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Puppetry 2008
(Basic & Advanced)

PURPOSE: Many people are captivated by puppetry performances. This event challenges young people to skillfully present Biblical themes and stories through the use of puppetry.

PROCESS: Each participating group will:

1. Select, modify or write an appropriate Bible based puppet script that incorporates this year's LTC theme. It is not required that the puppet play be from the Bible.
2. Ensure that participants not perform in more than one puppet play or event in any given time slot.
3. Provide puppets, costumes and props as needed.
4. Provide for storage of puppets, costumes and props. No storage will be provided in the puppet performance room. Leave puppets or props unattended at your own risk.
5. Submit the name of one puppetry judge per participating puppetry team. Judges MUST be familiar with various basic and advanced puppetry techniques. These will be briefly reviewed with the judges at the beginning of each session.
6. Register each team by grade category as determined by the oldest team member's grade level.
7. At time of registration you must indicate if you are entering the event as a Basic or Advanced team. This may not be changed at convention so make sure of your election early.
8. Deliver a completed Team Event Registration form to the Event Director at the beginning of the performance period.
9. Although not a requirement, please note the title of the play on the form and who wrote it. This will not affect scoring but will allow us to honor any original works by participants.

THE EVENT DIRECTOR WILL:

1. Assign and post an order-of-performance for teams in each performance session. The order-of-performance is flexible and can be modified as long as the Event Director is advised of any changes BEFORE they affect the timely performance of another team.
2. Ensure availability of a stage for each puppet performance room. Team Leaders are encouraged to bring their team and together familiarize themselves with stage setup and configuration during idle times.
3. Please note that special lighting (other than standard room lights) and electronic sound system are not provided for either stage.
4. Nominate teams to perform in the Saturday night Celebration from participants in this event.
5. Select Judges for this event.
6. Provide completed Team and Judging Forms to the Awards Committee.

RULES:

1. There will be three grade categories: Grades 3 5, Grades 6 8, Grades 9 12
2. Adults and other non-participants may help in setup and takedown. As long as good teamwork is shown, this will not negatively affect the team score. All non-participants must be clear of the stage during performance. i.e., clear before team states 'READY.'
3. Performance stage dimensions will be as described in the illustration found later in this section. A STAGE FITTING THIS DESCRIPTION WILL BE PROVIDED. If a team chooses to use their own stage they must set it up, perform and take it down within the maximum time period. If you bring your own stage, the 'dimension standard' need not be adhered to.
4. There are two sub-groups in this event. Basic Puppetry and Advanced puppetry. Advanced puppetry is held to a higher standard of performing skills and will have a different Judges Scoring Sheet reflecting this difference. Think of Advanced as the next level of award as illustrated by the following progression:
   • Basic Bronze
   • Basic Silver
   • Basic Gold
   • Advanced Bronze
   • Advanced Silver
   • Advanced Gold
5. Narration & other 'live' actors - the inclusion of human players or narrators is allowed and encouraged IF it does not detract from or overshadow the puppetry
6. Biblical Application & LTC Theme - The play must contain a Biblical theme or story and be scripturally accurate, while the main point of the play incorporates the current LTC theme.
7. Lifelike Presentation - This item covers many of the skills at the core of hand puppetry. Judging of Basic Puppetry should take into account the "well rounded" presentation by the team as a whole and not dwell on poor or great 'individual' presentation skills. Judging of Advanced Puppetry will also consider the team as a well rounded whole but also takes greater account of the individual skills presented.
• Lip Synchronization, Words are pronounced clearly and the puppet's mouth action is realistic and in synchronization with the words being spoken
• Mouth Action, The lower jaw of the puppet should drop away from the head when speaking. The mouth action may be sparingly exaggerated to emphasize emotion or loudness.
• Eye Contact, Puppets should interact with (look at each other) and occasionally look at the audience to "involve and draw them into the story"
• Posture, When standing 'normally' a puppet should stand erect representing the good posture of a human. Unintentional swaying, sinking or leaning on the stage is not present.
• Entrances and Exits, Except where otherwise needed by the play, the puppet should appear to "walk" up a ramp or stairway when entering and down a ramp or stairway when exiting.
• Character Roles, Puppets fulfill the character roles they portray in the play.
8. Projection - Is the dialogue spoken clearly and do the voices project well? Adult voices may NOT be used (live or pre-recorded) and the dialog of the play must be performed live (no pre-recorded dialogue).
9. Puppets' Appearance - Costumes should be appropriate for the roles being portrayed.
10. Special Effects - Attention given to stage props, sound effects, timing of effects, etc. Playing of pre-recorded special effects sound clips are allowed. Pre-recorded dialog/voice clips are not allowed.
11. Effect on Audience - Attention will be given to audience response. Did the play draw them in?
12. Teamwork - Team must display cooperative interaction with each other throughout the entrance, setup, performance, takedown and exit of the puppet play.
13. Total Time - Each team will have 11 minutes maximum to set up, perform, and exit the stage area. In grades 3 5 the performance must be a minimum of four (4) minutes and in grades 6 12, the performance must be a minimum of five (5) minutes. The minimum performance time for all Advanced teams is five (5) minutes.
    
    Deductions (-2 points) will be taken for each 30 seconds under minimum performance times and for each 30 seconds over the maximum time. Each team will enter with props and puppets from a room door. A team participant will announce "Ready" at the beginning the play. After all props, puppets and team members are removed from the room and "stage clear" is announced by the last exiting participant of the team, completion time will be recorded.

JUDGING:

1. Award rating will be assigned based on the point average between the three Judges. The Event Director reserves the right to adjust point awards by judges if deemed inappropriate.
2. There will be three Judges and a Timekeeper assigned for each session.
3. Puppetry Judging is not an easy job, there are lots of details to watch for and you WILL have lots of writing to do. It is important that we get as many returning judges as possible. The only position that has it somewhat easier is the Timekeeper.
4. I feel it is imperative that a judge explain each deduction of points in language that is positive and non-punishing.

AWARDS:

1. Each team will be rated according to the following scale:
   Gold = 95-100 points;   Silver = 85-94 points;   Bronze = 70-84 points;   No Award = 0-69 points
2. An appropriately colored engraved plate for the individuals Award Plaque will be given to each team member receiving a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Rating.

PUPPET STAGE DESIGN The puppet stage design has a 5-foot by 12-foot stage area. The backdrop and front curtain material can be made from whatever you have on hand. For more information on the design, costs and material please contact the Event Director for assistance. The following is a parts list for the two designs shown below. These are only recommended designs and your stage may vary but the stage(s) used at the convention will follow the dimensions shown below. Both designs use four 12-foot plastic PVC pipes and seven 8 foot pipes. It is recommended that you use 2 inch pipe but you can go as low as 1 inch. Convention stage(s) use 2-inch pipe. Depending on your stage, you will need the following:

Design #2 is made using elbows and tees in place of the 3-Way connectors. The 3-Ways are sometimes hard to find and can be more expensive than the additional tees and elbows.

Judging Sheets

Basic Puppetry, Judges Form

Advanced Puppetry, Judges Form

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