Andrea Bear
Designer and Maker
Characters of AYLI surrounded by puppet sheep created for the show.
Shepherd Corin attending to his flock of sheep in As You Like It.
This image shows an inside look at the mechanics of the goat puppets.
Characters of AYLI surrounded by puppet sheep created for the show.
As You Like It
by William Shakespeare
A close look at the sheep and goat puppets created for the production of As You Like It. The sheep use a pulley system for head, neck and leg movements.
The goat puppets use something similar to an automaton movement like a child's pull toy.
Wabash College, 2022
Director: Heidi Winters Vogel
Costume & Puppet Design and Fabrication: Andrea Bear
Scenic Design: Adam Whittredge
Lighting Design: David Vogel and Logan Montgomery
Photos courtesy of Benjamin High and Andrew Day
Tyrone's opening puppet
Tyrone's opening puppet
Hand to God
by Robert Askins
Eight hand and rod puppets were created for the production of Hand to God, along with a human sized version of the Tyrone puppet for the finale. The four Tyrone puppets included the original Tyrone, a rip apart version of the original, and two Tyrone "bad boy" versions, one with a denim jacket and one without. Along with the puppets Rita, Jolene, Jolene with makeover, and a Prince style puppet for Timmy.
Wabash College, 2023
Director: James Cherry
Puppet Design and Fabrication: Andrea Bear
Scenic Design: Adam Whittredge
Lighting Design: Bai Rosa
Photos courtesy of Zach Rosing and Jim Amidon
Another image of the skeleton broken apart. In the link below you can see a video created featuring the work of most of the students of the workshop.
Czech Trick Marionettes
Made in Puppets in Prague online workshops
These two marionettes were made during the Puppets in Prague online skeleton workshop. These style of marionettes fall into the "trick marionette" category. Each of these skeleton puppets breaks apart to create a spooky performance. These two puppets utilize different styles of controllers, these change the way that the puppets move, achieving different results.
Each puppet is hand carved with chisels from linden wood.
Puppet Design and Fabrication: Andrea Bear
This sailor puppet was created in the first online Puppets in Prague workshop in 2020.
Another in-progress marionette. This puppet was created in collaboration with my partner Todd Handlogten.
This sailor puppet was created in the first online Puppets in Prague workshop in 2020.
Czech Style Marionettes
Made in Puppets in Prague online and in person workshops.
These marionettes were made during the Puppets in Prague online and in person workshops. The images feature two styles of marionettes: string and wire. The two styles allow different types of movement for the puppets.
Each puppet is hand carved with chisels from linden wood.
Puppet Design and Fabrication: Andrea Bear
The wing structure of the bird is built on a backpack with a drawer slide bracket being used to move the wings. The wings are made from pex pipe with a lightweight fabric that was dyed to create the ombre effect. The creation of the bird was a collaboration between the costume shop and the scene shop.
Each mask was created by using two to three layers of tracing paper for the paper mache. The final layer of the mask was a buckram material. These materials allowed the light to pass through the mask and be visible onstage.
The wing structure of the bird is built on a backpack with a drawer slide bracket being used to move the wings. The wings are made from pex pipe with a lightweight fabric that was dyed to create the ombre effect. The creation of the bird was a collaboration between the costume shop and the scene shop.
Anon(ymous)
by Naomi Iizuka
The masks and puppets (except for the bird) were created for this production in part by the Theater 201 students. Students learned how to sculpt, mold, and construct the various puppets and masks under Andrea Bear's instruction during the course.
Wabash College, 2020
Director: Heidi Winters Vogel
Costume, Puppet and Mask Design: Andrea Bear
Puppet and Mask Construction: Theater 201 students
Scenic Design: Noah Files
Lighting Design: David Vogel
Photos courtesy of Zach Rosing and Jim Amidon
Universal robots
by Mac Rogers'
The production of Universal Robots is an adaptation of Karel Čapek's R.U.R. The script includes multiple mini-plays of Čapek's work, where the characters are watching these productions. The director and I decided to take this opportunity to honor Czech puppetry and turn these mini-plays into puppet shows. The puppets created for this production are giant versions of the wire marionettes seen in my work above.
Wabash College, 2018
Director: James Cherry
Costume and Puppet Design: Andrea Bear
Scenic Design and Lighting Design: Bridgette Dennett
Photos courtesy of Zach Rosing and Jim Amidon
Finished image of Mr. Grin at the front of the stage. Fully extended the crocodile measured around 35' long.
Finished image of Mr. Grin at the front of the stage. Fully extended the crocodile measured around 35' long.
Peter and the Starcatcher
by Rick Elise
The crocodile for the production was a giant beast that took up a great portion of the stage. It was constructed using pex pipe and hiking backpacks. The way we structured the crocodile it was able to condense down for backstage storage, and then easily expand for it's stage time.
Wabash College, 2016
Director: Jessie Mills
Costume and Puppet Design: Andrea Bear
Scenic Design: Bridgette Dennett
Lighting Design: Tony Stoeri