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Bio
Hailing from the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, Genna Beth Davidson is an
ambitious and down to earth puppet artist who brings her broad and deep set of
skills to both the theater industry and service arenas alike. With a penchant for
turning everything and anything into a puppet, Genna Beth loves transforming the
vitality of materials into imaginary beings. She discovered puppetry while studying
theatre at the University of Maryland from 2004-2008 thanks to the Jim Henson
Artist-in-Residence Program which was established while she was a student there.
After roughly a decade of work in theater and puppetry in the DC area, she went
off to UCONN where she earned her MFA in Puppet Arts in 2022.
Approach
Ideas, ideas, ideas! Basically I materialize ideas!
Always excited to work on a new project or return to an old one with fresh eyes, I strive to make what I see in my mind’s eye or on paper become real. I’ve learned that the simpler the puppet, the better it works. So I try to keep it simple. I’ve also learned to seek out projects where my collaborators and I have shared COMPETENCE, GOODWILL, RELIABILITY, and ALIGNMENT for the vision at hand.
Master of Fine Arts in dramatic arts
University of Connecticut, Storrs
Specialization: Puppetry Arts
Honors: Marks Family Endowment in the Fine Arts (2021); UConn Foundation Frank Ballard Scholarship (2022)
Bachelor of Arts in theatre
University of Maryland, College Park
Honors: Magna Cum Laude; President’s Scholarship
High school Diploma
The Baltimore School for the Arts, Baltimore
Concentration: Violin Performance
Education
Photo credit ©️ 2023 Justin N. Lane / jnlane.com
Solo puppeteer
The Curious School of Puppetry, online, 2022
Instructor: Rene Baker
Dark Clown
Weekend intensives, online, 2021
Instructor: Peta Lily
MASS MoCA Wood Carving & Puppet Design Intensive
The Berkshires, 2018 and 2021
Instructor: David Lane
Shakespeare & Company Summer Intensive
The Berkshires, 2016
New england puppetry intensive
The Berkshires, 2015
Instructors: David Lane, Peter Balkwill, and Nan Balkwill
Workshops & Intensives
Tiny Kitty Tim
Ghost of Hanukkah future
Pegashvitz
Round House Theatre: A Hanukkah Carol
Replay
Design work samples from my MFA show at UCONN. Replay, a dark comedy about unpacking baggage, is my solo show featuring tabletop, shadow, and object puppetry.
Performance stills from Replay. Performed at Arts Center East in 2022. Lighting design by Kayo Tokuue and Jackson Funke
photo by Kayo Tokuue
photo by Woody Dweyer
photo by Woody Dweyer
photo by Woody Dweyer
photo by Woody Dweyer
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Puppet and Design Gallery
Shorts &
My stance on psychopharmacueticals
Parsnip rose
Surrealist puppetry experiment with two sexy parsnips and a rose. This divine feminine figure lets loose!
Replay
A dark comedy about unpacking baggage.
An object puppetry experiment while in grad school
A Directing for Puppetry class assignment in which we were instructed to reinvent the cantastoria.
A toy theater piece creaed over one weekend for a Women’s Suffrage Pageant.
Experiments
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Design and Consultation
Thinking about using puppetry but not sure where to begin?
I can advise on the following and more:
- Puppeteering ~ Design ~ Fabrication ~Puppet re-builds and repairs ~ Content creation ~ Scripting ~ Puppet Direction ~ Puppet Staging
Styles of Puppetry
- hand puppets
Bunraku-style
- rod puppets
- shadow
- table top
- moving mouth (TV style)
- object puppetry
crankie
toy theatre
body/wearable
lantern puppets
hybrid forms
- I was commissioned by this NYC-based puppet company to reproduce several of the beloved tabletop puppets originally crafted by Z. Briggs.
Wonderspark Puppets
- puppet builder
- I am currently a puppeteer with Barefoot Puppets performing New Squid on the Block and The Wriggling Brothers Circus. I am also an artist-in-residence with the company in Richmond, VA.
- I currently assist Barry Gordemer when he needs extra hands to help build his masterful creations.
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- I am a regular puppeteer and a puppet builder for Ready for Pre-K! a D.C. Public Schools initiative.
Ready for Pre-K!
- PErformer and Puppet Builder
Current work:
barefoot puppets
- performer
Handemonium
- Barry Gordemer
just for fun web-isodes
In Lopi’s World, big dreams soar, the mundane is celebrated, and play is absolutely serious business ;)
Part soap opera, part adventure series, the tiny-epics of one household tribe of finger puppets are documented in this web series for all ages
The Little Weirdos
Lopi’s world
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Tada!
Contact
- Genna Beth Davidson
- gennabeth@gmail.com
Photo credit ©️ 2023 Justin N. Lane / jnlane.com