Free puppet theatre patterns
(Not to be confused with toy theatre)
Learn more about set design for puppetry, including lots of things to consider when building your sets.
I will be adding to this list as I find more patterns. Please note that these patterns come free courtesy of the credited people; please respect their wishes for creditation (if requested) if you publish the link elsewhere.
- My instructions on building a shadow puppet screen [link to be added]
- My instructions for making a display puppet stand, uses wood not PVC
- My instructions on how to create your own light curtain
- Doug Ledbetter’s PVC booth instructions
- Fellowship of Christian Musicians presents instructions on metal tripod stands (similar to a booth)
- Scriptone’s (user of Instructables) cardboard glove puppet stage
- Children’s Ministry PVC and metal piping booth
- Grey Seal Puppets (not a pattern, just a good insight into their staging - worth reading) describes their set
- Play, Script and Song’s PVC booth
- Play, Script and Song’s cardboard marionette stage
- Infarrantly Creative’s ingenious method of turning an old bookcase into a booth
- Love & Sugar Kisses’ curtain-in-a-dooryway ‘booth’
- Make and Takes’ curtain-in-a-doorway ‘booth’ (this one has more of a circus theme)
- Making the World Cuter’s wooden ‘booth’ (more like a ‘flat’, as it’s known in theatrical terms; aka, a wall with a window cut out in it)
- Cricut’s dinosaur-themed booth
- Storm the Castle’s fabulous folding marionette theatre using wood
- Mini Eco’s cardboard scenery
- Bosch’s fabulously detailed wooden booth/frame (pdf)
- Joy and Pete Consulting has a great shadow puppet screen tutorial using PVC piping (scroll past the photos)
Why so few free patterns? Find the answer here. Read the article dispelling some myths about free patterns. [links to be added]
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6th October 2011 at 01:06
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Excellent point Mike. I recently had a discussion on just this topic, where a puppet maker was suggesting that someone sell their handmade muppet-type puppets for $US 20. When I questioned the validity of the price (not believing it would cover anywhere near someone's labour or materials for making one), the person pointed out that it's not that they can really get that low in costs, but that it's all about the perception of the cost. I guess it's why so many people think that puppets can be that cheap, they see a finger or glove puppet on sale in a toy store and presume that all puppets can price-match despite them being factory-made at low cost. I'm willing to bet Folkmanis are also made in China. (Funny that you can actually buy fairly cheap Chinese shadow puppets on Ebay though... almost ironic in its own way!) How I wish we could convince the general public that the cost is worth it, just so we could pay our bills a little easier. It's probably why I write a lot of these articles, trying to remove some of that mythology and mystery behind puppets. Ah well, one can hope. :)
... School of Puppetry on How much does a puppet cost?