Students Katie Jane Dietrich (front, left to right), Tor Tooker, Daniel Emery and (back) Sabrina Fowlie learn from and work with puppeteer Ian Bannon (front, right) last week at Kingfield Elementary School. (KES photo) KINGFIELD -– Ian Bannon from the Figures of Speech Theatre in Freeport visited the Kingfield Elementary School for the entire week last week. Bannon exposed the students to shadow puppetry, one of the oldest forms of theater on earth. It originated as stories that were told around the fire with towering shadows cast on the walls of caves.

“Figures of Speech Theatre’s Artist-in-Residence Programs give students a hands-on approach to literacy, help schools meet the State Learning Standards, and make learning incredibly fun,” the program brochure states.

“FST offers a full ‘menu’ of options tailored to grade level, with a success-oriented focus on creative problem solving, team cooperation, and an interdisciplinary approach to world cultures and art.”

The program began with Bannon performing the Jester King of Java puppet show on Monday.

The professional production featured authentic Indonesian shadow puppets. This performance with a cultural context triggered the imaginative process for the students to create their own work.

Each day Bannon spent time with students from grades two through five, teaching them how to make the puppets. He taught the methods to work them to make their movements lifelike. The older kids worked on narration for their own plays they were developing.

On Friday, the kids got in groups of five or six and performed their shows to other classes and to some invited family members.

This program was made possible by a grant that the Kingfield Parent Volunteer Group (formerly known as the PTA) obtained from the Sugarloaf Regional Charitable Trust, which paid for half of the $2,500 fee. The other half was paid for by a grant that Figures of Speech obtained from the National Endowment for the Arts to go into rural Maine schools.