Hansel and Gretel dwell in our house, along with a colourful array of companions, just waiting for someone to pull their strings. For years, these fairy tale characters delighted children in libraries and schools throughout the Toronto area, brought to life by the Adams Marionettes. In the 1950s, my mother-in-law, Maureen Adams, took a puppetry course at Queen’s University and was permanently hooked. She began with hand puppets, but as her family grew older, she and her husband, John, formed the Adams Marionettes, consisting of themselves, their four children, and a school friend, Dan. The puppets captivated not only young audiences but the performers themselves, as the marionettes opened the door to a wide array of creative expression.
My mother-in-law loved puppetry because it involved many forms of art: drama, costumes, scene design, music, and story. The performances, enchanting as they were, were only part of the process. First, the Adams chose a folk tale, devised a script, added in sound effects, and taped the finished product. The marionettes were made out of wood, with the heads devised from a plasticine mold. Next, the family sewed the costumes, painted the scenery, and spent a great deal of time in their backyard puppetry workshop, rehearsing the play. It was a family act, complete with Adams Marionette tee shirts and a special van to transport the stage, performers, and puppets.
My husband’s specialty was Rumpelstiltskin. As the little trickster danced his way across the stage, to the tune of Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours,” Andrew danced behind the platform, copying his every move. Finally, when Rumpel realized he had been outsmarted by the miller’s daughter, he disappeared in a puff of smoke (baby powder), the clang of a cymbal, and the flash of a camera, never to be heard from again.
After the adult children went their separate ways, John and Maureen continued to attend many puppetry conferences in Canada and the U.S. and hold workshops in Brampton and Toronto. Several times, they helped my husband and me with Vacation Bible Schools in the churches we served, assisting with puppet-making and performances. John passed away in 2005. In 2006, Maureen received the “Arts Person of the Year” award for her outstanding contribution to the arts in her Brampton community.
In early 2011, Maureen’s health declined and we flew from Nova Scotia to see her. I gave her a puppet that our daughter, Andrea, had brought home from Mexico. She held the puppet in her worn hands and stroked and stroked the tiny dress it was wearing. She asked my son, Christopher, to put it up on the bulletin board in her room, where she could see it from her bed. The gift brought her comfort, a reminder of all the stories her puppets had told.
About nine months after my mother-in-law’s death, I came home one day to find my youngest daughter, Susanna, rehearsing a marionette dance with two high school friends. A short time later, Hansel and Gretel danced on the stage of Prince Andrew High School, during “The Lonely Goatherd” scene in the school’s production of The Sound of Music. Strings were being pulled for Grandma once again!
Happy Mother’s Day and many joyful memories!
This blog piece has been reposted, with some changes from the original.
Photo used with permission from Torstar Syndicate.