The theater arts program at Sacramento State offers a variety of classes, but many students would never think to take a course in puppetry. Truth be told, there is more to puppetry than a sock on the hand.

The puppetry courses, Theater 115 and 115A, at Sac State are a collaboration of arts where students learn to make puppets, create sets, and develop characters.

The students not only learn to perform but are taught in a way that they will be able to teach children the art as well.

“Live theater is a passion of mine,” said Richard Bay, a theater professor who teaches puppetry courses. “Teachers are the first ones to expose children to the arts and if they [the puppetry students] feel good and knowledgeable about the subject, they will be able to keep live theater going.”

The courses generally attract liberal studies and drama majors, but are open to all students.

Ryan Kacalek, a senior liberal studies major, is taking the course to fulfill a requirement, but finds it enjoyable as well.

” I want to be a teacher so I?m taking this class so that I can teach elementary school children about puppetry,” Kacalek said. “It?s a great stress reducer and release for me too.”

The course is helpful to those with stage fright or who are shy because they are able to hide their identity, yet participate in a performance.

The students work with many different kinds of puppets, all created by themselves. Students begin with hand puppets and progress to mouth puppets, rod puppets, like the Muppets, and marionettes. Although the class demands quality work, students seem to appreciate the experience.

“This is my last semester so I saved room to have a fun class. Plus, I?m sure that I will work with children someday and what I?ve learned may be able to help me,” said Anna Abasta, a senior in psychology.

The puppetry classes create theater performances with their puppets for the public. Plays in the past have been “A Mid Summer Night?s Dream,” “The 85 Minute Ring Circle,” and “A Thousand Cranes,” in which Bay won an award from the International Puppet Organization.

These plays inter-mingle puppets with live actors. Though no puppet performance is scheduled for this semester, “Billy the Kid” will be produced in the spring 2001 semester where ” Billy” is a 12-foot tall puppet, Bay said. Live actors will perform in the play along with the puppets.

Taking a new direction with traditional puppetry is what Professor Manuel Pickett has done in his multicultural puppetry class. The multicultural puppetry class is not just about teaching how to perform puppetry, but also how to incorporate lessons about multiculturalism with the performance.

“I?m teaching this class to teach people, teachers especially, concepts of multiculturalism and the importance of it in education,” Pickett said. ” I get to inform students in a fun way and it is a fun way to reach children about the subject also.”

In teaching this class, Pickett requires his students to read current articles about multicultural subjects and they discuss it on a daily basis. With the puppetry, the students learn to incorporate what they have learned and display it through performances with puppets. As a final for the class, the students are required to pick a topic concerning multiculturalism.

“Some of the topics have been how children treat each other, gender issues, self-esteem building and also about the elderly,” Pickett said.

The students then create a story that they develop and perform for an elementary school. The students in this class learn a variety of skills to take with them at the semester?s end, including creation of puppets and sets, development of a story line and characters, and the knowledge of multicultural issues and how to teach it through puppetry.

The course can fulfill requirements for liberal studies majors and theater majors, as well as it can be counted towards the C4 general education area and the race and ethnicity requirement. Because there is only one section, the multicultural puppetry class always fills quickly. Pickett said he is considering adding another section next semester to make the class available to more students.

Although puppetry may not fulfill a requirement for most students, it is a genuine opportunity to acquire new skills and perhaps find a new hobby. From student responses and the quick-filling roles, census says this is a good class to take.

“The course isn?t just for education majors,” Bay said. “Anyone can take this class and have fun with it.”