SAM's young puppeteers
Students enjoy puppet-making workshop

Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Apr 21/00) - Pat Lewis is a one- woman show, literally. The Toronto-based puppeteer recently visited Inuvik and conducted a series of workshops.

When Lewis took to the stage at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school she WAS the stage. Dressed in a black top with a long, flowing, suspiciously bulky green skirt, Lewis set up an ingenious frame on her shoulders and slipped down out of view within her bag stage. While hidden, she used several puppets and props -- hooked to a big web belt around her waste -- to tell the story of Princess Louise and the Pea. The story is one of several originals she's written since she began performing more than 20 years ago.

"If the show fits, wear it," she said, cracking what she described as a puppeteer's inside joke.

Getting inside puppeteering and enlightening minds was what Lewis' trip was all about. Accompanied by her partner Bob Howard and daughter Arielle, Lewis went on to help the SAM school kids make their own puppets and learn a thing or two about working them.

From kindergarten to Grade 2, paper-plate puppets -- made by folding over a plate in half and decorating it -- were the order of the day. Grade 3s created sponge puppets and Howard said they came up with some pretty good animals, like eagles and bears. Grade 4s got shadow puppets, Grade 5s learned about story-telling and manipulation while the Grade 6s sewed their own glove puppets, something the boys didn't appear to mind.

"When I started back in '79 it wasn't uncommon for boys to have no idea how to sew, and to not want to," said Lewis. "But it's been a long time since I've heard boys say they can't sew and that it's a girl's job."

a The Grade 6 workshop was a flurry of activity with kids on all sides stitching their puppets together and turning to Lewis for advice.

Student Lucy Thrasher said she'd already sewn a picture frame at home and Fiona Joe described the exercise as fun and easy.

A singer-turned-puppeteer, Lewis said when she's not busy putting on demonstrations she works as a film extra, a street performer and has even lent a hand, so to speak, in some of the Muppet movies.

Howard, for his part, is equally talented. When not helping out at the workshops he put on displays of comic-juggling, which also went over big with the students.

"The jugging works, and the kids get to yell and scream," said Howard, while Arielle added with a laugh, "at you!"

And the kids kept coming back for more. After watching some of the day-time shows, many returned with their parents for an evening, public performance. Among them was Grade 3 student Brielle Morrison, who said the princess play was worth seeing twice.

"I've seen puppets on TV, but they're much better 'live,'" she said.