For at least a thousand years, shadow puppetry has been an integral part of Asian culture. China, India and Indonesia have long traditions of storytelling through the use of light and shadow, and the tales depicted by expert puppeteers ranged widely from epic struggles between good and evil to spiritual and religious teachings. Making its way westward, the art form emerged in the Ottoman Empire and then Europe by the end of the 17th century.

Shadow puppetry most recently appeared in Tallahassee during the “Arts Around the World” summer camp offered by Making Light Productions, a nonprofit theater arts education organization. Co-founder Mandi Broadfoot finds that “puppets are a fun way for kids to get involved in theater at the most basic level.” She’s quick to add that “puppets can be incredibly complicated and they can be a professionallevel skill, but you don’t have to study it for years to enjoy it.”

Campers began their exploration by watching videos of contemporary shadow puppetry and then got a glimpse of how the magic is created. “We show them how simple it can be and the mechanics behind it. It’s as much science as it is art, how we use light and the direction of light to change the size of the puppet and the way that the puppet moves,” Broadfoot said.

Camp director and theater instructor Liel Lavie appreciates the way that shadow puppetry blends a variety of disciplines. Students created their own puppets and set pieces, and then wrote an original script and put it all together into a final performance piece. “Even though you’re not necessarily the performer on stage, there’s still an acting aspect behind it,” Lavie said. She encourages the campers to explore their character and “try out different accents and styles and voices.”

The puppet itself provides some distance between the puppeteer, who controls and speaks for it, and the audience, creating a safe space for reluctant performers. Broadfoot recognizes this and said that “for even some of the shyest kids, using puppets helps them express themselves. Anyone can do it, no matter their fine motor skills, no matter their language skills; anyone can manipulate a shadow puppet and be an equal part of the show. We’re always looking for ways to be very inclusive and be sure that everybody’s got a significant role to play. That’s the heart and soul of who we are and how we got started.”

Making Light’s founding philosophy is to provide performing arts training and experiences to children of all abilities. “I have a 10-year-old son with high-functioning autism, and my partner, Juliet Yaques, has a 12-year-old daughter with fairly profound autism.

Both of them are very interested in the arts, but it was really difficult for them to find a place where they can fully participate.” Taking advantage of their own backgrounds in the arts, Broadfoot and Yaques decided to create such an environment, not only for their own children but for others as well.

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