Below is an sample class I drafted for Stage Door's Theatre Conservatory's Summer Master Class Series. If you are interested in hosting me as a guest artist, contact me@ericamclaughlin.com, and we can discuss a personalized program to fit your educational needs. I have also provided instruction in the areas of acting and dance in addition to puppetry. Click here to view a short list of my teaching experiences. Please feel free to email me for references and further information.
About Me

Erica Lauren McLaughlin  has appeared as a puppeteer in Laugh Out Loud!, Emerging Artist Theatre Fest NYC,  The Oracle, African Continuum Theatre Co; Basura!, PS 122 NY; Buried, Kennedy Center; Strange Soup, Creative Alliance, Fanto, UMBC. She has also served as a guest artist at the Stage Door Conservatory teaching Master Classes in Puppetry. This summer, she performed with OM: Obejcts in Motiong at the Puppeteers of America Regional Festival in College Park, MD. Acting Credits include: Mosi, Cold April, Best Play-Strawberry One Act Festival (Best Actress Nomination), Leonato, Much Ado about Nothing; Snug, A Midsummer Night's Dream; Secretary Liu, Fanshen; and more. Erica received her BFA in Acting from UMBC and has studied at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC) and the HB Studio.  Also an award-winning playwright, Erica's play "Love and Wood" played to full houses at the Inaugural Capital Fringe Festival (2006), and was later produced by Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. 

Thanks to Colette Searls for introducing this special kind of puppetry!

I look forward to working with you!
Erica

Puppetry Master Class Outline

Talking Trash: Making Magic with Found Objects 

Materials needed:

  • Newspapers (some preferably City Paper style)
  • Duck Tape
  • Packing  Tape
  • Grocery Store Bags (used are great)
  • Any cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, tubes, fabric scraps or other interesting *clean* trash
  • At least one table top (6-8 foot rectangular table preferred)
  • Standing mirror
  • CD Player
  • Storage space for built puppets and materials

Description: Students will create living, breathing creatures out of everyday trash, objects that are found lying around in most houses! Students will learn basic puppet manipulation, as well as group modified-Bunraku style puppetry. Students will begin to develop short scenes using their creations as characters.

 

Session 2: July 19, 2007
Dancing Machine: Exploring Puppetry through Movement and Music

Materials needed:

  • Newspapers (some preferably City Paper style)
  • 3 Pairs of shoes
  • 3 neckties or long scarves
  • 3 Hats of any kind (the funnier the better)
  • Other assorted clothing items
  • Open space to move in
  • At least one table top (6-8 foot rectangular table preferred)
  • Boom box
  • TV w/DVD player (if available)

Description: Students will watch a short video of Searls Puppetry’s “Newspaper Dance” and recreate their own dancing legs in order to learn and perform short puppet choreography. Students will work in groups to create “Negative Space” puppets resembling humans using articles of clothing/ other found materials. Students will create short improvisations using these characters. Students will learn choreography using clothing puppets.

 

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Site designed by the little lady herself, Erica Lauren McLaughlin, 2004. Contact me@ericamclaughlin.com  for more information.