Sneaky Pete Puppets

These puppets were painted for Sneaky Pete Ensemble’s theater production of Vasilisa and the Tale of Baba Yaga. Most of the characters measured approximately three feet long. They were made from a combination of wood, metal joints, paper mache’ and baked fimo. They were operated in a similar fashion to Japanese Bunraku puppets, with some variations. There was usually one puppeteer per SP puppet. Traditional Bunraku requires three. Baba Yaga (seen here with the long nose and crooked hand) required two people for full movement of the eyes and tongue. The show ran for two months in SF. Art direction by Chad Owens. Puppet design by Chad Owens and Elkhanah Pulitzer.

“The very first puppets I painted were representatives of the three different parts of the day: morning, afternoon and evening.”

“These puppets also marked the three acts of the play:”

“The heads and bodies were somewhat fanciful to begin with, so I think they had it in mind that the painting should also be out of the ordinary – in other words, no wide-eyed cartoon like eyeballs and rosey pinked cheeks.”

“I also used Baba Yaga in my second film, shot on BW super 8 film. I shot the film at the Botanical Gardens in Tilden Park. The BW tones abstracted things, making the visual differences between the natural and the man-made less obvious so she blended right in with the setting.”

Excerpts from Tina Banda’s full article. Read the full story here on Box of Paints