Kathryn, our former Communications Associate, left earlier this month for a new adventure in Vermont. We wish her the best! We wish her the best! Read on for a note about her time at Puppet Showplace.
45th Birthday Block Party, 2019.
Dear Friends,
When I first joined the staff of Puppet Showplace as a Box Office Associate in the spring of 2017, I was looking for a job to get me through the summer. I had no idea how deeply I would come to appreciate the art of puppetry, and the people who make up the Puppet Showplace community. When an opportunity opened up for me to take on more responsibilities as the Communications Associate that fall, I jumped at the chance, and have been lucky enough to hold those dual roles ever since. As my time in these roles comes to an end, I am happily reflecting back on all I have learned & experienced at Puppet Showplace.
Stitching the costume for the emperor’s tailor, The Fairy Tailor.
I still remember my first day at Puppet Showplace, where I saw my very first puppet show as an adult and was completely overcome by the artistry and magic of the storytelling. There’s something about being in the audience of a puppet show that makes you feel like a kid again. In the past five years, I have felt that same feeling at countless Mainstage shows with new and familiar tales, and at Puppet at Night shows and Puppet Slams that range from the absurd to the profound. I have had the time of my life at puppet invasions in the community, and tea parties & block parties on Station Street. Perhaps some of the most special have been the times I have been able to bring my skills as a “people” costumer into the world of puppetry, working with artists to build the worlds of their shows through costumes & sewing, most notably on costumes for Sarah Nolen’s The Fairy Tailor, and Honey Goodenough’s Swishy Fishies.
My favorite note left on our coloring table! It reads “I love the Puppet Showplace so much I wished I lived here!”
It has been so wonderful to work to bring new audiences into the Puppet Showplace community through our social media & communication channels, and to form connections with them at community events and puppet shows. Of all the things that make this community so special, for me it is above all the people. The young audience members that I sat with through their very first puppet shows, or the ones who knew the curtain speech better than I did. The puppeteers who introduced me to this magical, varied, remarkable art form. The colleagues who became friends. Though I’ve moved away, I know I can always call Puppet Showplace home.
It’s been a pleasure getting to know all of you. I can’t wait for the next time I’m in the theater!
Warmly,
Kathryn Ballinger
