Bio
- Genna Beth Davidson, hailing from the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, is an ambitious and down to earth puppet artist who brings her broad and deep set of skills to both the theater industry and service arenas alike. With a penchant for turning everything and anything into a puppet, Genna Beth loves transforming the vitality of materials into imaginary beings. Thanks to the generous support of Jane Henson who supported puppetry-artists-in-residence while Genna Beth was studying theatre at the University of Maryland from 2004-2008, she found her passion.
Approach
Ideas, ideas, ideas! Basically I materialize ideas!
Always excited to work on a new project or return to an old one with fresh eyes, I work to Keep It Simple Sally! But as an ever-learning individual, I have made my share of errors on this learning curve of life. Today, I ensure an approach to projects and artistic relationships in which shared COMPETENCE, GOODWILL, RELIABILITY, and ALIGNMENT are maintained. I have learned through the years that these aspects of the project must be present from beginning to end in order for trust to flourish.
Photo credit ©️ 2023 Justin N. Lane / jnlane.com
Education
Master of Fine Arts in dramatic arts
University of Connecticut, Storrs
Specialization: Puppetry Arts
Honors: Marks Family Endowment in the Fine Arts (2021); UConn Foundation Frank Ballard Scholarship (2022)
Bachelor of Arts in theatre
University of Maryland, College Park
Honors: Magna Cum Laude; President’s Scholarship
High school Diploma
The Baltimore School for the Arts, Baltimore
Concentration: Violin Performance
Workshops & Intensives
Solo puppeteer
The Curious School of Puppetry, online, 2022
Instructor: Rene Baker
Dark Clown
Weekend intensives, online, 2021
Instructor: Peta Lily
MASS MoCA Wood Carving & Puppet Design Intensive
The Berkshires, 2018 and 2021
Instructor: David Lane
Shakespeare & Company Summer Intensive
The Berkshires, 2016
New england puppetry intensive
The Berkshires, 2015
Instructors: David Lane, Peter Balkwill, and Nan Balkwill
Theatre Credits
- HUMAN (2024)
- TEMPTING FATE (2023)
- Pericles (2021)
- Dr. Caligari (2017)
- The Changling (2019)
- Saudade (2018)
- Malevolent creatures (2019)
- Cabinets of kismet (2021)
- Sleeping beauty: a puppet ballet (2015)
Shorts &
Experiments
My stance on psychopharmacueticals
Parsnip rose
Surrealist puppetry experiment with two sexy parsnips and a rose. This divine feminine figure lets loose!
Replay
A dark comedy about unpacking baggage.
An object puppetry experiment while in grad school
A Directing for Puppetry class assignment in which we were instructed to reinvent the cantastoria.
A toy theater piece creaed over one weekend for a Women’s Suffrage Pageant.
Design and Consultation
Thinking about using puppetry but not sure where to begin?
I can advise on the following and more:
Styles of Puppetry
toy theatre
hand puppets
body/wearable
shadow
crankie
Bunraku-style
rod puppets
table top
lantern puppets
object puppetry
moving mouth (TV style)
hybrid forms
Design Process
From concept
to technical
drawings,
maquettes,
patterning,
prototyping &
finishing
I take ideas from paper to fully realized. Whether hand puppet, shadow, wearable or any other puppet style, I have a robust skill set to bring projects from conception to completion.
Some shots of my process for Cerberus, a puppet rebuild for
Tempting Fate
PErformer and Puppet Builder
I am a regular puppeteer and a puppet builder for Ready for Pre-K! a D.C. Public Schools initiative.
puppet builder
I was commissioned by this NYC-based puppet company to reproduce several of the beloved tabletop puppets originally crafted by Z. Briggs.
performer
I am currently a puppeteer with Barefoot Puppets performing New Squid on the Block and The Wriggling Brothers Circus. I am also an artist-in-residence with the company in Richmond, VA.
Barry Gordemer
I currently assist Barry Gordemer when he needs extra hands to help build his masterful creations. Check him out at the link above!
just for fun web-isodes
The Little Weirdos
Part soap opera, part adventure series, the tiny-epics of one household tribe of finger puppets are documented in this web series for all ages
Lopi’s world
In Lopi’s World, big dreams soar, the mundane is celebrated, and play is absolutely serious business ;)
2024
Here’s my performance calendar for the month
March
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
New Squid on the Block (Barefoot Puppets)
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
New Squid on the Block (Barefoot Puppets)
31
Contact
gennabeth@gmail.com
Photo credit ©️ 2023 Justin N. Lane / jnlane.com