Rowan University Grad Takes Puppets to the Stage in Skippyjon Jones at Walnut Street Theatre

When Walnut Street Theatre for Kids’ production of Skippyjon Jones hits the stage this week, actors will play Siamese cats, Chihuahuas, gigantic bumblebees and birds. Some will even tackle puppetry.

West Deptford native Mark Williams designed and created three puppets for the show, including two baby birds and the Momma Bird.

A 2016 graduate of Rowan University and current Properties Apprentice with Walnut Street Theatre, Williams said he first began working with puppets while working on a production of Avenue Q with Rowan University Fine Arts Professor Patrick Ahearn at Gloucester County College. “If anyone was my mentor in puppetry, it would be him,” Williams said.

Williams also spoke of George and Ann Neff, Philadelphia-based puppetry artists, as an inspiration. He worked with the two of them on the same production of Avenue Q.

When it comes to designing any puppet for the stage, Williams said he’s always trying to find the perfect balance between the overall look of the puppet and the function and comfortable fit for the actors using it.

“A puppet is a prop that you have to convince the audience is a living thing,” he explained. “You have to build it to be usable, and the actor has to breathe life into it. I think puppets are kind of remarkable on stage because they can do things that people can’t normally portray.”

When making the family of bird puppets for Skippyjon Jones, Williams said he kept in mind that the Momma Bird would have to pick up and hold a large worm in its mouth. That’s why he wrapped spandex around the mouth plate of the puppet and made it at least twice as big as the other puppets in order for the mouth of the puppet to open wide enough to fit the worm in it.

It’s no wonder, then, that Williams estimates each puppet required around 12-16 hours of labor to complete.

In addition to his puppets being featured in Skippyjon Jones, which runs now through April 22 at Walnut Street Theatre, Mark Williams’ puppetry design was featured earlier this month in the Walnut Street Theatre’s Studio on 5 rental studio, where Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium was performing a revival of Jean Giradoux’s The Enchanted. Williams designed all nine of the puppets that were used in the show.

To purchase tickets for Skippyjon Jones, call 215-574-3550 or 800-982-2787. Tickets are also available online 24/7 by visiting www.WalnutStreetTheatre.org or Ticketmaster.

Photo: Alexa Cepeda and Jared Calhoun in Skippyjon Jones at WST for Kids. Photo by Mark Garvin.