How Prop Masters Build Puppets
Building a puppet is a multi-stage, collaborative craft involving artists, engineers, and tailors.
At the Novosibirskiy Oblastnoy Teatr Kukol (Novosibirsk Oblast Puppet Theater), fairy tales come to life. But before a character steps on stage to meet the audience’s applause, it goes through a long process of creation in the prop workshop. The workshop is led by Nadezhda Georgievna Volkova, an Honored Worker of Culture of Russia. She is convinced that puppets help people discover the kindest and brightest parts of themselves.
From Novosibirsk to Magadan and back
Nadezhda Georgievna was born in Novosibirsk. Creativity accompanied her from childhood: she drew, sculpted with modeling clay, and invented images. After school, the choice of profession was obvious — she entered the Irkutsk College of Arts (Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia) and graduated as a master of artistic ceramics.
Immediately after graduation she married and moved with her husband to Magadan (Russia’s Far East). At first she worked at a souvenir factory, but quite quickly realized that her soul wanted more. That “more” turned out to be theater — first the musical-dramatic theater, and soon after the puppet theater.
«But the director of the drama theater let me go only on one condition: to work in two theaters at the same time,» Nadezhda Georgievna recalls with a smile. «And I had a special schedule: from morning until five in the evening — at the puppet theater, and from five to nine — at the musical-dramatic theater. I worked like that for a while.»
Young audiences experience stories alongside characters, practicing empathy and learning to tell good from evil.
In 1999 she returned home. Dropping by the Novosibirsk Oblast Puppet Theater “just to meet colleagues,” she ran into artist Alexander Aleksandrovich Korytny. The conversation ended with an immediate job offer, so she did not even have time to take a vacation. The first production was «Buratino», and she still holds the post of head of the prop workshop today.
A team of magicians at work
Creating a puppet is a multistage, truly collective process.
«First the sculptor sculpts the head,» explains Nadezhda Georgievna. «Then a plaster mold is taken from it, and the next process is making papier-mâché based on that mold. After the little head is ready, it goes to the puppet mechanic — a true engineer-magician. He “brings the puppet to life”: he builds the body and installs mechanisms that allow the puppet to move its eyes, ears, and hands. Then the puppet returns to the workshop, where we build up the body’s volume and make it individual — thin, stout, hunchbacked. Our costume designers create a unique outfit, as well as shoes and accessories. It is a lengthy process that results not merely in an object, but in a character — a personality with its own soul.»
Mission: to nurture the good and the beautiful
For Nadezhda Georgievna, the puppet theater is not just a job but a calling.
«Yes, I am in love with my work and simply happy to serve in a puppet theater. It is insanely interesting,» she says.
She shares her love for the craft with a team of like-minded people. Everyone in the workshop is passionate, talented, and devoted to their work.
Each handmade puppet has an individual look and temperament, shaped by costume, mechanics, and design.
«Students come to us regularly for internships, and the masters are happy to share their experience,» she notes. «Working in a puppet theater requires imagination and a love for vivid, fairy-tale stories. We constantly consult with one another and help. The artist creates the puppet, but we can suggest an option: “How about we do it like this!”»
Lessons in kindness from behind the scenes
Nadezhda Georgievna is convinced that the puppet theater is not only about entertainment. It fulfills an important educational mission.
«The stories in our theater help young people grow and cultivate a sense of beauty,» she says. «A child, coming to a performance, lives through the story alongside the heroes, learns to empathize, and to distinguish good from evil. It is quiet work, but crucial for nurturing the soul.»
When asked what work should be for a person, she answers without hesitation:
«Inspiration! To live well, you need inspiration — to work for the soul. I cannot do what is not to my liking. Work should bring fulfillment and joy.»
How many puppets she has created over the years, Nadezhda Georgievna does not count. One thing is certain: there are hundreds. Each one is unique, with its own character and inner world. But for her, something else is more important: behind every puppet there is a production, and behind every production — children’s smiles, for the sake of which it is worth creating this magic.
«Nadezhda Georgievna Volkova is a rare specialist, a true master of her craft. There are very few like her — people in love with the theater, who have devoted their lives entirely to the art of playing puppets,» says the theater’s director, Yury Gorlatykh. «She has united around herself professionals just like her, who create real wonders on our stage. We are very proud that Nadezhda Georgievna is with us, and we wish her health, longevity, and many premieres ahead!»
