Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1922-03-08
Do
Magic On
Little Stage

Operated by four we'll trained
young actors, Miss Grace Barnes
puppets in Aladdin and the Won
derful Lamp" given last night in
the auditorium Of the high school
under the auspices of the Salem
Arts league, took their audience
into the realm of fairyland. The
children laughed with joy at the
antics of the tiny figures, which
moved so gracefully about upon
the stage, gestured, danced, walk
ed and even seemed to talk. They
did not seem like dolls at all, but
if dolls, certainly the size of chill
dren. The familiar fairy story Of
Aladdin was prettily acted out.
The puppet faces, designed by
one of the company, were good
and full of expression. Their cos
tunes were exactly correct and
showed great care and art in plan
ming. Gorgeous coloring and
| lighting effects were attained and
gave grown ups good bit to
think about in addition to watch
ing the motions of the figures.
The onlooker last night imme-
diately knew that much beside
mechanical perfection was being
displayed on the miniature stage.
The marionettes became to the
grown up an artistic medium for
the dramatic ability of those be-
hind the scenes. OF course, they
were voices" but such wonder
full ones. They were exactly the
right texture to fit the marion
cites, they were clear, resonant
and trained. They were the dra-
matte power of the play.
Chimes opened each scene and
the music which came from be-
hind the scenes, like that from
Elfland, was played on tiny
harpalute.
The puppeteers are clever
young people, students of Univer-
sity of Washington and Cornish
School of the Theatre. They were
students Of Maurice Browne and
Ellen Van Volkenburg. They are
the first company in the west to
present puppet plays en- tour and
Salem was their last stand on
solid schedule of Washington and
Oregon towns. The company in
cludes Miss Grace Barnes, Miss
Alberta Langley, Miss Nylene
Prewitt, Miss Ruth Hamilton
Kerr and Richard Odlin. Their
members dramatized the play,
made the puppets, designed and
made the costumes, designed the
lighting effects and constructed
the entire production.
Watched from behind the
scenes, the puppet play became
even more interesting, although
seen from the mechanical point
of view. The puppeteers stood
above the tiny puppet stage on a
narrow bridge. Here they at once
gave voice and action to the fig
ure they operated. Such smooth
manipulation of properties was
never seen in a real play. And in
the puppet show, even the fig
ures are properties. To the head,
hands, feet and other parts Of the
marionettes body were Joined
strings of a neutral color. The
strings were fastened above to
two sticks, held in the hands of
the puppeteer. BY clever manipu-
lation of the proper strings the
puppet moved it's feet to walk, it
knelt, nodded it's head, or went
through any of number Of mo-
tions.
AS the puppeteer moved the
figure, he also talked for it. The
lines were very cleverly arranged,
and in addition to giving them SO
well, the puppeteers were quick
at improvising. The audience ap-
preciated that when the string
manipulating the head of Alad-
din's mother broke, she did just
the right thing in saying she
would not look at her son.
Following last nights appear
ance in Salem, the company dis
banded for a short rest. Miss
Barnes will go into California at
once to make bookings for future
showings.