Writing for the Puppet Theater

How do you craft a narrative that tells a compelling story using the medium of puppetry? What is the difference between writing for actors and writing for puppets? How do you write dialogue for puppets? Is it still writing if the scene has no dialogue (spoiler: yes!). Whether you’re writing a piece of pure puppet theater, or integrating puppets into a play, writing for puppets presents a unique set of opportunities and challenges. Taking a holistic view of writing as narrative, structure, story beats, and dialogue (or not!), this workshop gives participants a space to discuss their works-in-progress and new ideas, and learn how to write a script that’s tuned to the needs and opportunities of puppetry.

***Participants will be required to submit a bit of writing that they are struggling with. 

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Josh Luxenberg is playwright, director, curator, and creative producer. He is the co-
Artistic Director of Sinking Ship Productions, the acclaimed Brooklyn-based physical
theater company. He was the Director of the historic Connelly Theater in the East
Village for a decade, overseeing the revival of the iconic off-Broadway venue, and the
New Initiatives, Artistic Producer at New York Theatre Workshop. With Sinking Ship, he
co-produced and curated the long-running puppet slam Puppet Playlist, supporting the
development of hundreds of original puppet performances.

Credits with Sinking Ship include: The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy (NYTW/Under the
Radar and with Theater in Quarantine, a NY Times Critics Pick for the original streaming
edition), A Hunger Artist (Connelly Theater, nominated for two 2018 Drama Desk
Awards, and winner of Summerhall's Lustrum Award for Excellence at the Edinburgh
Fringe), Cassandra, an Agony (J. Paul Getty Museum), Powerhouse (New Ohio, O’Neill
Playwrights Conference Finalist, NY Times Critics Pick). He has developed work via
residency and commission at the Orchard Project, Mercury Store, LMCC, Mabou Mines,
Mt. Tremper Arts, The Freight, EST/Sloan, the Getty Museum and others. Josh co-wrote
The Dial, an interactive narrative augmented reality installation created by NightLight
Labs (Sundance Film Festival 2019). His programming at the Connelly includes Marin
Ireland’s Pre-Existing Condition, Kate Berlant’s Kate (directed by Bo Burnham), Sasha
Velour’s Nightgowns: The Musical, Will Arbery’s Plano (Clubbed Thumb; Drama Desk-
nominated), The Bengson’s The Lucky Ones, and many more.