Puppetry Courses

I teach five different puppetry courses at the University of Hawaii with a dual focus in educational application and performance techniques. Undergraduate courses include Puppetry for Young Children, Beginning Puppetry, and Masks and Giant Puppets. Graduate level seminars include Advanced Puppetry and Asian Puppetry. Puppetry courses are an elective requirement for students in both the College of Education and Department of Theatre. Guest lecturing in international venues and universities gives me the opportunity to share my enthusiasm for puppetry as well as learn from students in other cultures. In 2003 I will be teaching in American Samoa and Singapore.

Theatrical Performances for MFA

As Director of the graduate program in Youth Theatre, I encourage students to mount plays and puppet shows and tour them into the schools. Hawaiian legends, traditional folk tales, and Asian influenced puppet shows can be an exciting venue for students learning to be professional puppeteers.

Here are students performing Hawaiian legends with a company called "Mo'olelo Ki'i Lima" (to tell the story with the hands).

Main stage Productions in Kennedy Theatre

I direct the annual family theatre play which is a part of our main stage season. From year to year the type of production varies to accommodate the interests and talents of students enrolled in the graduate program. Productions have included dramas, comedies, musicals, fairytales and multi-cultural pieces which are presented in the 450 seat Kennedy Theatre. 6,000 children are bused to the school performances and families attend the public shows given on weekends. This production of D-FORCE, an original play about divorce, used masks and giant puppets to recreate the illusion of a video game.