An Interview with Puppet Designer Alison Reid

Dive into this new adventure of the classic tale of The Little Mermaid. This journey features the story of the mermaid, Allura, and her desire to visit the forbidden Landside to win the heart of the Prince. Through the help of her friends, Goby the fish and Bubb the whale, Allura fulfills her heart’s desires.

Mandi Lee and Stephen Lima are the two actors who bring our mermaid’s sidekicks, Goby and Bubb, to life through their roles as puppeteers. Their characters would not be possible without the puppet designer, Alison Reid, adding new dimension and creativity to these fintastic creatures.

The puppet Goby as a work in progress, showing the hoop skirt structure.

Each puppet is designed based on real-life animals using images of goby fish and pygmy sperm whales. To ensure the success of the show, not only in visible believability, but also functionality, Reid constructed the puppets to appear as though they were swimming underwater.

“When I started designing the puppets, the costume designer, Mel Barger, was already working on a prototype for the mermaid tail. The mermaid tails are made out of fabric, with circles of plastic boning to create the tail shape, similar to a hoop skirt. This design makes the tail very flexible, which allows the actors to simulate swimming. I knew I wanted to incorporate this element into the puppet design as well. So, both Goby and Bubb have fabric bodies with the same ‘hoop skirt’ structure,” shared Reid.

Bubb before and after painting.

This implementation of the hoop skirt allows the actors to add life to the puppet through specific movements. The hand and rod features of the puppet are similar to Jim Henson’s Muppets which provided further inspiration for the actors to place themselves into their characters and provide believable movement to these underwater creatures. Lee and Lima faced some challenges when trying to adapt to these new acting skills and performance skills.

“This is a very physically demanding show, so a lot of the preparation is in building strength and stamina to give life to Goby. My challenge is to make it all look easy – like she’s effortlessly floating through the sea. I’ve got a lot of training to prepare me to make physical choices as an actor in my own body, but puppeteering means putting all of that into another being. She is an extension of me, but if I’m doing my job right, you won’t really notice me onstage when I’m playing Goby – you’ll be looking at her,” said Lee.

Lima explains, “My hand goes in the mouth at a weird angle, to keep him upright, so that’s a little challenging but it allows for a wide range of movement with the head and mouth, so he is very expressive. The rod in the tail allows me to add some life and really sell his swimming. The greatest challenge when working with a puppet is to ensure that there is always “life” in the puppet. It’s one thing [to be animated] as an actor, but as a puppeteer, you have to find those moments in the movement of the puppet. I watched videos of sperm whales swimming, Muppet show episodes and videos on mime.”

Goby before and after painting.

Although Lee and Lima focus on believability on stage, Reid also wanted to make the puppets enjoyable off stage. As this show is a children’s production, she wanted to ensure that the puppets were enjoyable for the entire audience.

“​​When designing the puppets, I wanted to make them look realistic and dynamic, but still fun and approachable for a young audience,” says Reid.

Despite the challenges Lee and Lima faced, they are thankful for the opportunity to learn new skills in their theatrical performance. Lima responds, “I was apprehensive yet excited at the idea of puppeteering. I was looking forward to working on this new skill. Any additional skill set you can learn helps you greatly as an actor. Having worked at Orlando Shakes before, I knew that the rehearsals would be detailed and very precise. I was confident that I would have all the tools I would need to make this wonderful character come to life and learn a useful new skill. Rehearsals have been my favorite time. Discovering who Bubb (the puppet) is, how he moves, how he sounds. I have really fallen in love with Bubb.”

“I was really excited to get to do something different and challenging – and to develop super puppeteer arm strength! Goby has some great moments with the other main puppet, Bubb the Whale. We are kind of an odd couple, and we end up in some very silly situations! I don’t want to spoil it beyond that,” Lee says.

The creation of these characters allowed Reid to watch her puppets come to life through the spectacular performances from Lee and Lima.

“The best part of making a puppet is seeing the puppeteer bring the puppet to life. I’ve only been able to see them in rehearsal a few times, and the performers (Stephen Lima and Mandi Lee) are already doing a great job bringing Goby and Bubb to life!​” Reid commented.

To partake in the fun and sea these finny puppets, join us at Orlando Shakes!

ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Lana Kaczmarek is the Marketing Intern at Orlando Shakes. She is currently pursuing her Bachelors Degree at Stetson University as a Communication and Media Studies major with a double-minor in Journalism and Creative Writing. She enjoys spending time with her family and her dog while she listens to various musical soundtracks on a loop.