Children learn, laugh with local puppet troupe

In an era when movie tickets can exceed $8 and there are few options in bargain entertainment, the Puck Players Theatre, a local puppeteering troupe, offers a low-cost alternative.\nStarted as a master's thesis project by a theater graduate student in 1967, the troupe has presented many hours of entertainment to Bloomington children and their parents.\nThe Puck Players are directed by Nina Ost, who has been part of the troupe since its creation. What started off as someone else's project has become a long-term commitment for Ost.\nThat commitment has turned into joy for others.\nDavid White, who has worked with the troupe from the beginning, said, "We have parents coming in here with children now who used to be children coming in with their parents." \nThe plays serve both to entertain and to teach children, Ost said.\n"We don't have a conscious message," Ost said. "It's almost unconscious -- we don't stereotype (villains) by age or sex or race or whatever. But it's not like in one of Aesop's Fables, where there is a definite moral at the end."\nWorks presented by the Players usually have some changes made by the group. "Little Red Riding Hood," for instance, is confronted by a friendly, nonthreatening, vegetable-craving monster rather than a wolf.\n"The 'Red Riding Hood' thing is as it is because the wolf is a little frightening," Ost said. "We have a point of view that most of our antagonists are silly rather than frightening."\nThe Players said they plan to perform a toned-down version of "Jemima Puddle-duck" later this spring.\nDespite the long history, a ticket price which calls to mind a bygone era and the aging sock puppets, the Puck Players Theater is constantly looking for new blood.\n"We started doing two short shows rather than one hour-long one to attract new people," Ost said. Many new recruits are students or professors.\nTheresa Ochoa, an assistant professor of education, is one such recruit.\n"I was always a closet actress, and Nina discovered me," Ochoa said. Since joining the Players, Ochoa has taken in two roles -- playing the grandmother and Red Riding Hood. She said she sees the performances as something that will interest students, children and parents.\n"A lot of the humor is done for an older wit," she said. "The show can be funny for people of all ages." \nOchoa said she joined the Players out of desire for volunteer work and encourages all interested to do the same. "I would love to prompt students to come," she said. "Maybe I'll make it a part of their grade"