A winter chill grasps us in its clutches.  The skies are grey, the nights are long, and the icy snow presses its weight on parked cars, power lines, and the desire to leave cozy couches. 

And at this very moment, when fears are brewing and hopes are stretched thin, the champions from each corner of the globe leave their districts to play games in far-flung Sochi.  You may feel abandoned.  You may feel vulnerable to the forces of evil, mediocrity, and seasonal affective disorder.

Fear not!

Your beloved Secret Agents have been stealthily training for the past Olympiad, since their 2010 tour, to confront these creeping doldrums of winter with Herculean abandon.  The Agents are ready to soar with the ski jumpers, endure with the biathletes, and dazzle with the curlers. 

Mediocrity will be crushed!

Break free and join in their adventures in New York and Boston.  Rise, like the torch passed around the globe, and burst into glory on the highest podium.  Help The Agents cast golden light onto these grey, grey times.

And remember, gumshoe, it is up to you to spread the word and save your fellow man.  

All of a sudden, my four year-old son started playing make believe.  It’s been an incredibly exciting thing for me. He animates his toys, creates sounds for them, and turns our sofa into exotic locations.  He’s not concerned with the fact that the sofa looks nothing like a firehouse or that the ribbon he is holding doesn’t spray water.  He just plays.  His little brother and sister trail after him, happily following his orders.  He sometimes asks me to assist with his firefighting, which I do whenever I can. 

When I join him, I sometimes have to resist the temptation to interrupt him---to steer him towards story lines that I find more interesting or push him to make the object he is using more believable.  I try to stay quiet and listen to his instructions because I know the best thing I can do is stay out of his way and observe his little mind stretching in all sorts of new ways.

When he plays like this, he is essentially making a puppet show out of his world.  He is bringing objects to life by moving them with intention and feeling.  He is animating his world using sound, emotion, story, and character.  He is naturally creating puppet shows on his own.  He may not have an audience but he has the satisfaction of acting in an invented world on his own. 

We are just now starting to make more formal puppet shows together: ones made on a stage, with an invited audience.  When we do this, I follow him.  I lead by asking lots of questions.  I remind myself that this is his show (and not mine!) and that whatever he makes and feels good about is perfect.  I do steer us away from complexities in the story or object we are making and focus on what we can do to have a complete “show” within 20 minutes (as I know that is usually how long he can focus at one time).  Here are 5 things I do to make the show successful:

1.    OBJECTS:  Any object can be a puppet:  a spoon, a scarf, a ball, or your fingers with eyes drawn on them, a stuffed animal, a handmade or store-bought puppet—anything works!  Just move the object with feeling and maybe give it a voice or sound effects. 

2.    STORY:  Make up a simple problem for the puppet to have and solve the problem—trying different solutions along the way.  Maybe a ball can’t stop from rolling or a spoon can’t find it’s matching fork or a stuffed animal doesn’t know how to dance.

3.    SOUND:  Put on some music while you work---it can be very inspiring for your story.  Choose a tone you want:  playful, scary, dramatic:  movie soundtracks are a great place to start.

4.    AUDIENCE:  Decide who will be your audience before you start working.  Will you perform for siblings?  Grandparents?  Or will you videotape it?  If you know who will be watching the show, you can make it fun for the audience by including some fun jokes only some people will get.

5.    LET IT GO:  If the formality of making a show isn’t working, no sweat.  Just let your child enjoy playing with the stage and puppets collected.  Some of the best shows are improvised and performed for an audience of one!


*This post was originally published on BabbaCo's BLOG, February 2013*
BabbaCo delivers age appropriate activities for kids 3-7 right to your door once a month.

Squirrel Stole My Underpants came at a time in my life when I was looking for a change.  I have three small children—a four and a half year old and two year old twins. Before I’d started a family, I’d worked part time as a drama teacher, and, in every free minute, thrown myself into a blizzard of art and performance making—dance, puppetry, costume design, circus arts.  But with my oh-so-wonderful and yet oh-so-demanding family, that just wasn’t proving to be possible anymore. 

Creating a show I could tour for family audiences felt like it brought a lot together: I could draw on all the (weird, wonderful, and totally unmarketable) skills I had developed; I could build a schedule around my family life (and maybe even have an excuse to take them all on the road with me); and I could get back to what I love—making art.    

I was lucky enough to obtain early support from Puppet Showplace Theatre and the Jim Henson Foundation.  With the time that gave me, I was able to really delve into what can make a family show feel wonderful. Many ideas came and went but a few themes stuck with me:  how hard it is to grow up, those magic items that make you feel secure as a kid, and the injustice of something being taken.  And, thus, Squirrel Stole My Underpants began to take shape.  

I feel very thankful that Squirrel Stole My Underpants.


*This post was originally published on Puppet Showplace Theatre's Blog, January 2013*

You may have thought the Secret Agents had disbanded and gone to live their quiet civilian lives.  They had all but disappeared. 

Until last week…

…When Tim and Bonnie were thrown happily in the spotlight by winning the Austin Critics’ Table Award for BEST TOURING SHOW for their December performances of Poste Restante in Texas.  The Agents are humbled, honored, and totally psyched to be recognized among such amazing companies (Gob Squad, Actors of the London Stage, and Suzanne Bocanegra!).   

And so, this week, it seems high time that the Secret Agents announce their newest mission:  Invisible, Inc. 

That’s right, the Agents are taking their charming and carefully honed expertise to the wee ones who will one day take on their own missions as Secret Agents. 

Invisible, Inc. will deliver surprises and hidden messages in their first ever family-friendly show:  Squirrel Stole My Underpants.

Agent Bonnie will perform this show solo as Agent Tim delves deeper and deeper into his medical studies.  At this point, he has helped replace a few knees, delivered a few babies, and stitched up people in the ER.  And you thought their Secret Agent skills were limited to being upside down and making odd contraptions out of cardboard! 

Agent Bonnie will be joined on this next mission by Penney Pinnette, who made the lovely costumes in Poste Restante & is a fashion designer at large; Dan Milstein, Bonnie’s civilian love interest & writer/director of Rough & Tumble; and many other fine artists willing to take on this ultimate challenge and/or help babysit Bonnie’s three young kiddos.

So now, rest assured:  the Agents are sticking around.  

Sit back and wait anxiously for the opening of Squirrel Stole My Underpants.  It will come to a theater or school near you this winter.  Until then, check back here for progress reports and photos.  Follow us on Pinterest to see what is percolating in the Agents’ brains and LIKE us on Facebook to be like all the cool kids.

And, finally, keep your ears and eyes peeled for mischievous squirrels in your neighborhood:  they may take your underpants.  It happened to Bonnie and it can happen to you.