I've been thinking of studying puppetry overseas for a while now, and was just wondering whether anyone can recommend a good course. I've been checking out the US ones, but it's a bit hard to tell what they're all about; studying in the US is so different compared to studying here in Australia.

I'm particularly interested in what people have heard/think of the University of Connecticut's course, as I looked at that and it sounds good for me.

(Oh, yeah I'm looking at studying full time)

I have a friend who went there and said it is awesome. They work in puppetry now. Hope that helps.

My son is studying at West Virginia University with a double major in Puppetry and Children's Theatre.  He loves it and has really appreciated the fact that he is not only learning about puppetry but also will know everything about the stage and theatre in general.  The last production he was in combined puppetry and live actors and the cool thing was they used such a wide variety of styles of puppetry - hand puppets, muppet style, bunraku, huge 8 foot tall puppets, tiny rod puppets and marionettes.  It was an awesome production!   He likes the fact that he is getting experience in all aspects which will make him more marketable to a children's theatre job.  Of course they also gave him a full ride scholarship based on his puppetry skills which really helps!!

Oh, both courses sound interesting! Are they heavy on learning to act? I've pretty much done all the performance I ever want to do, I mainly just want to learn building techniques. I don't mind of course, having to do it if it's necessary, I just want the building side of things to be the main focus.

When I did my course here, we had two do both technical theatre and acting, but the good thing was, when it came down to assignments, big shows, etc, we could choose our preference. Is it possible to do something like that in the US (or elsewhere if you know it)?

I say.....save your money and ask Gary Friedman if he can become a mentor to you.  You have one very skilled puppeteer with tons of experience who is an endless resource of information living in you continent.  He will teach you all aspects of making and also how to perform with puppets.  I think you will learn far more one on one with a puppet maker than a course that will have someone for a certain amount of time and then they leave, rather than someone who will guide you and help you all along the way, and hey, you will have a friend to call on when you are really stuck.

Why leave Australia and spend extra money when you have great talent in your own backyard?

Just my thoughts (and opinion).......

Daryl H

Actually I've been wanting to take a mentorship here for years. No one wants to hear of it; I keep getting told to go study at the Victorian College of the Arts, which is the only puppetry course in Australia. It annoys me because I really don't want to study full time anymore, do assignments, etc.

I'm not interested in doing the VCA course, but I don't mind the idea of studying overseas, where at least I can have a new experience of a different country and culture.

I haven't thought about asking Gary actually.

The other issue is of course money - I could get a grant or funding for going overseas, but it's much harder to get one for going to another state (Sydney being much more expensive than Melbourne).

But it's food for thought: perhaps I should ask him anyway...