A Little Imagination Can Go A Long Way

The fourth annual Elkland Puppet Festival was held Saturday, Sept. 19, and organizers put on an event filled with extraordinary feats of daring, strength, motion and mystery.

The event was hosted by the Elkland Art Center, which is in Todd, N.C., and the festival featured three puppeteers from around the world and around the state: Hobey Ford, creator of the foamies, Keith Shubert of Toybox Theater (Asheville) and Madison J. Cripps (Asheville), creator of Strings Attached Marionettes.

The event was a non-profit one that is held at the old Todd Mercantile and the Bank of Todd in Ashe County but close enough to Watauga County.

There were plenty of children, and adults, that just came out to have a change of pace from the norm. The skits were really well done and each puppeteer interacted well with the audience. Plenty of giggles could be heard from the children, and adults, when faced with having to use their imagination. Something we tend to forget we have in this fast-paced world.

The first skit I watched, which reminded me of the World Wide Wresting we see on TV, was Keith Shubert’s wrestlers. He performed from inside a box with the ring above him and made the puppets do maneuvers I didn’t thing was possible–body slams, flips and take-downs. He even did a bounce off the ring. It sure got the giggles out of the kids, and me.

The best performance in my short visit was by Madison J. Cripps. He had the parts down for each of his puppets but he was really great at ad-libbing. Crowd interaction was excellent, especially with The Rat, who wanted more cheese, and approached several people to get some. Toe cheese included. He had some other stars like Schlik, Flip and The Worlds Smallest Vampire.

The last entertainer I saw was Hobey Ford. He took the audience on a magical journey of life. It was neat to see the story of the frog, the butterfly and nature in general. Not a word was spoken but you knew what was taking place. The children were in awe at the puppets and interjected their own take on the situation. He did take the time to explain his performance afterwards.

This was a pleasant change for me since I usually shoot bands and action. It was a chance to take a trip back to my youth and I recommend some day that you do the same. Puppets might just be the way to bring out the creativity inside–or freak you out one.