Puppet-dresser has to think big

Press, 9 November 1988, Page 18

Puppet-dresser has to think big

When Tina Harris goes shopping for clothes, she has to think big. Garments labelled extra large (XL) can be a bit of a squeeze; what she is really after is extra, extra large (XXL). The shopkeepers know her by now. “You’re going to hurry back now and cut all these new clothes up, aren’t you?” they call after her. Getting clothes to fit the enormous puppets on “Public Eye” can get her in a tight spot. "I used to buy the pupets’ clothes at op shops,” says Tina, “but we’ve exhausted all their big sizes. “If something comes in that they think will be suitable for the puppets, they give me a ring, but in most cases we are forced to buy brand new.” When she gets the large men’s suits or size 16plus dresses back to the workshop, she takes out the scissors and cuts an opening in the back and in each sleeve to allow the puppeteers to operate the puppets. Dressing the fibreglass bodies is relatively straightforward if the character happens to be male. If it is female a few adjustments have to be made, like sawing great lumps off the puppet’s shoulders. “The puppets’ fibreglass bodies are modelled on a man’s body, but of course women’s bodies are shaped differently. We have hour-glass figures and they have those large square shoulders, so I had to purchase a saw and cut the shoulders down to a reasonable size for women.” Jewellery and other accessories for the giant puppets also have to be an outlandish size. Natalie Brunt’s earrings are three times larger than the real thing and a Mexican sombrero was the only thing big enough to form the base of Ilona Rogers’ “Glospital” hat. Debra East, who works in the wig department, also has to think big. She often has to buy two wigs, cut them up and stitch them together to make them fit. “Even then I some times have to add crepe hair (dyed sheep’s fleece) just to give the bulk,” she says. East works from videotapes, photographs and Trace Hodgson’s sketches to get the accuracy required and most of the wigs are straightforward. But every now and then she runs into trouble. “A wig can take up to two days to do. It depends how accessible the hair is. “Ilona Rogers’ puppet has been the most difficult so far. The only hair I could get hold of was the wrong style and colour. Ilona’s hair is streaked. Fortunately she wears that big hat.” The final of “Public Eye” screens on Monday at 9 p.m. on One.