New Britain herald., 1929-04-06
WON SUCCESS BY PULLING STRINGS.

new York, April Sue Hastings
has carved for herself a career AZ a
kind Of Fate.
In Olympian manner. she pulls
the strings that make 200 little
! figures dance. weep. make love,
! clown. play musical instruments and
do all the other things that make
up life.
For Sue Hastings 10 one Of the
few women puppeteers in this
country. She not only directs her
own puppet shows but she models
the figures in plasticine. makes
casts for their heads and paints
them, constructs miniature stage
sets, designs and sews the cos
tunes, strings tie puppets up. con-
ducts rehearsals and is the change
able voice behind stellar parts.
Creating and directing a whole
world is responsible job. but tre-
mendously fascinating, Miss Has,
ings admits.
Their Tangled Affairs
'My puppets seem to develop real
personalities. she complains. Some
are good children and some are ba ]
and they are always getting their
I, strings tangled. We had hand
some hero once. When he was quiet
he looked the part. The minute he
began to act and talk he looked
positively criminal. We re-cas, him
into a real villain. We have little
1 i,la cd >r,fb ,,Si n nj o
gets so poppy and naughty when
performing that we often call on
her understudy, 'Perlinc.' TO FIJI
in while we straighten Enthusi-
asm' out.'
| A few years ago Sue Hastings
wrote play while taking drama
at Columbia. It was a f1uke, when
produced. Sue was convinced that
mis-casting had something to do
with it. Her interest in running
show of her own crystallized in her
acquiring a few marionettes and
putting on her own travesty Of
Uncle Toms Cabin" Topsy, espe-
cially, made such a hit that Sue cast
her lot in with puppets. She served
an apprenticeship with Tony Sars.
Now she has five companies Of her
own out on the road with comedies,
nursery tales. fashion shows and
other plays that delight old as well
as young.
Visit Sue Hastings in her Broad
way studio and you step into a diff
! ferent world, but by no means an
inanimate one. Little wooden peo-
pie, IS inches high, are in for re-
pairs. new costumes. a new make
up or couture. couple of new
Joints or what have you. Gay little
Columbines mingle with fcarsome
pirates. dainty shepherdesses with
fairy kings. ballet girls rub elbows
with clowns. negro MINISTRIES. lions.
dra CONS and ogrcs. All seem mere
ly to bes waiting for Sues magic
touch to live their intriguing lives.
Miniature picket fences, golden pal
aces, grey castles and wee sets of
royal furniture. bicycles and SO on
await their lively antics that, in re-
minding their audiences Of their hui
man prototypes. send them into
gales of laughter at the foolish
ness of the human race,
They're True Artists
MY marionettes aim to be ar
tlstic little actors as we'll as
comic" she boasts. u am criticize
ed, sometimes, for spending SO
much time over dolls. My MARION
cites are far more than dolls.
They are delicate mechanisms, with
every little wooden figure meticu-
lousy hand-carved, weighted, joint
ed and attached to dozens Of strings
to give it human movement. Cos
tuning and stage sets and lighting
take much time, too. But it is such
fun as well as work."
Listening to Sue Hastings describe
what a puppeteer does gives one the
impression that clever fingers in
deed are behind those delightful lit
tie marionettes.
working a puppet is like play
ing a harp" Sue Hastings says.
Your fingers must be very. very
agile. Moreover. you must be able
to run the gamut of character.
when puppeteering. One charac-
ter may call for a high pitched,
gushing debutante voice, the next
the snarl Of the old ogre's house,
keeper. You must stay thin or
you can't get around comfortably
on the back-stage bridges
Finds Appreciation
In between creating more pup
pets and rehearsing and giving
productions, Sue Hastings writes
many of her plays. For the in
creasing interest America. both
adult and young. is showing in
marionettes spurs her on and on.
"Marionettes have Just begun
to be appreciated here" she main
tains IN Europe there are thou
sands of marionette theaters.
Czecho- Slovakia alone has 1900.
America is just beginning to real
ize that puppets are not meant
primarily for children but for
srown-ups OF intelligence and i'm
agin.tion. There IL = great future