Where Puppets Speak: The Magical World of Amy Trompetter

It’s easy to walk past Redwing Blackbird Theater and never imagine the riot of color quietly waiting inside—or the fantastical figures that dwell there. This Rosendale theater, workshop, and museum is a wonderland of Amy Trompetter’s work: giant sunflower backdrops, walls of sculptural reliefs, and the larger-than-life puppets she has created for plays, operas, festivals, and protests. 

Trompetter studied art at UC Berkeley, but it wasn’t until she moved to New York City in the 1960s that she discovered her lifelong passion for puppetry. “After studying at Berkeley, I remember looking at my artwork and thinking, ‘How does anyone know what to do with their art?’”

The answer arrived in the form of the political theater company Bread and Puppet Theater. She was struck by their Gray Lady Puppets, which bore silent witness during anti-war performances. “The war in Vietnam brought protest marches on Fifth Avenue,” Trompetter recalled. “There was chanting, and it was all very grim. Then, I saw these giant women with blindfolds over their eyes and their hands bound. A giant airplane puppet—like a demon—flew over them. There were drum beats. The women fell to the ground, and the airplane kept going. There were skeletons. Then the women slowly got up and continued marching.”

For Trompetter, these puppets transformed the march from mournful to deeply expressive—a form of resistance without words. “The piece had no language,” she said. “It was effective because it was pre-language.”

The idea of creating puppets captivated her, though she hesitated to join the company. She admired their work so deeply that she doubted her own ability to measure up. Eventually, her enthusiasm overcame her fear. “I was petrified,” she said. “They were so sure of themselves, their world on the Lower East Side as hippies and artists. And I came in like an outsider. I remember going home and saying to myself, ‘Amy, if you don’t do this—if it’s too scary—you’ve lost the whole trajectory of your life.’ So I went back. And the rest just felt right.”

When Bread and Puppet Theater went on tour in Europe, Trompetter stayed in the US with her husband, fellow puppeteer Andy Trompetter. Gifted a van by her parents as a wedding present, the couple traveled across the country, performing puppet shows along the way. Their journey eventually led them to Portland, Maine, where they founded Blackbird Theater. After they later separated, Andy retained the Blackbird name, while Amy’s work evolved into what is now Redwing Blackbird Theater.

Her career has since taken her far beyond Maine. Researching traditional puppetry and staging productions brought her to China, Japan, Nicaragua, Botswana, Burma, Bali, and Bangladesh. Her work earned strong reviews—including recognition in The New York Times—and led to a teaching career. “It got a great review, so I was really lucky,” she said.

A friend encouraged her to share her skills in the classroom, and she began teaching at Antioch College before moving on to Bates and eventually Barnard/Columbia—despite never having formally studied theater herself. “I’m sure it happened because of the New York Times review,” she said. “Because I had not taken a theater course in my life.”

A 1999 visit to the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale ultimately led her to purchase the Main Street building that now houses her theater and workshop. Much of the work currently on view is dedicated to extraordinary women with local ties—abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who lived near New Paltz, and political theorist Hannah Arendt, buried in Annandale-on-Hudson. Each is represented in multiple forms: a life-size papier-mâché Arendt floats above the space, a paper cigarette is poised between her fingers, while another version is mounted on a wheeled apparatus that combines a cart, a hose reel, and a walking stick. Truth’s life—her fight for her child’s freedom among them—is rendered in intricate reliefs that can stand alone or be shown as a series.

Trompetter’s work makes bold statements about women’s rights, civil rights, and the dangers of fascism. And yet, given the materials she uses, the pieces themselves are inherently fragile. Cardboard softens in the rain. Colors run. Structures dissolve. She embraces this vulnerability. It is possible to create more durable, even waterproof puppets—but those materials require strict safety measures. Trompetter prefers a simpler, more immediate process, even if it means accepting the eventual disappearance of the work. “I use wallpaper paste and paper over clay, sometimes hay tied to a stick,” she said. “The simplicity and affordability of the materials make it appealing.”

The result is something akin to building sandcastles—creations that may be swept away, but are no less meaningful for their impermanence. “I think working with puppets is a good teacher,” she said. “You learn not to become too attached.”

Trompetter holds Stage Skirt puppetry workshops from 5:30 to 7pm on Tuesdays. At these workshops, participants can learn more about puppetry and make a skirt for a puppet play. The museum is open for visits and possible puppet shows from 4pm to 6pm on Saturdays. Or stop by and take a chance, says Trompetter. The workshop might also be open then. You never know what you might discover.

Photos courtesy of Redwing Blackbird Theater + Joan Vos MacDonald

Joan Vos MacDonald writes about the creative mind, Korean media and the wonders of the Hudson Valley.

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