Eugene O'Neill National Puppetry Conference 2015 - Participant

Recipient: Lisa Simons Scholarship (40 Yr. Producer/Director Sesame Street)

After delving into puppetry in the last few years, mostly on an academic level, I decided to plunge into the deep end of the pool at the Eugene O’Neill National Puppetry Conference and can confirm that this puppet world is a career game changer for me.

Puppetry is fun, joyful, profound, endlessly fascinating and creative. There are rules, yet it is rule-less, and innovative depending on the aesthetic of the puppeteer. It is simple, complex, accepting, and magical.

I have been so lucky to have worked with writer, actor, and marionette master Ronnie Burkett, director Roger Danforth, and playwright Stephen Massicotte.

While at The O’Neill I wrote an original piece (mentored by Ronnie Burkett) that I was curated to perform at the 25th Anniversary performances of the National Puppetry Conference (see photo above).

I also performed in a “Participant Piece” written and directed by New York based writer/producer/puppeteer Jonathan Foss.

I continue to engage in the world of puppetry and intend on infusing this art form into my teaching and performing arena whenever and wherever possible!