Paul Vincent Davis (puppeteer)

Paul Vincent Davis is an American puppeteer. For over 30 years, he served as Artist in Residence at Puppet Showplace Theater in Brookline, Massachusetts.[1] In the 1980s, UNIMA-USA awarded Davis five Citations of Excellence for his work.[2]

This article is about the American puppeteer. For the English footballer, see Paul Davis (footballer, born 1961).

Early life and education

Davis was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1935.[2] He was raised in Alexandria. His fascination with puppets began at the age of four, when he performed with hand puppets for family and friends.[3]

In 1945, when Davis was 10 years old, he saw a performance in Washington, D.C. It featured Frank Paris Marionettes and an Italian puppet company.[4] Soon after, Davis and his father converted the family garage into a puppet theater. Davis began to perform for neighborhood children.[5]

Davis earned his B.A. in Fine Arts from the Richmond Professional Institute of the College of William and Mary.[3]

Career

Early career

In the early 1960s, Davis worked in art studios, print shops, and advertising agencies. He left the job of art director at a New York agency to become a freelance graphic designer and part-time puppeteer.[4] He also spent time as an actor and folk singer.[5]

Davis directed the Repertory Puppet Theater of Washington, D.C. He created serious work for adults with puppets. This included plays from Samuel Beckett, Japanese folk plays, and medieval miracle plays.[6]

In the early 1970s, Davis co-directed The National Theater of Puppet Arts, Inc. with Carol Fijan. Based in New York, the company of puppeteers produced excerpts from Shakespearean plays and Greek classics.[6]

Puppet Showplace Theater

In 1977, Davis moved from New York to Brookline, Massachusetts. He became artistic director and artist-in-residence at Puppet Showplace Theater.[7] At Showplace, Davis worked mostly with hand puppets for audiences of children and families. His hand puppets featured jointed legs that moved by means of the wrist. This created realistic movements.[3]

Davis created over a dozen full-length puppetry productions.[8] He adapted classic folktales and fairy tales and created original shows.[1] These include Androcles and the Lion, The Singing Turtle, Raccoon Tales, Rumpelstiltskin, Bingo the Circus Dog, Jo Jo and the Orange Ball, Chinese Dragon Dance, and Here Come the Clowns.[3]

In 1997, Davis served as executive director of Puppet Showplace Theater. He remained active as a performer until his retirement in 2007. As Resident Artist Emeritus, he continued to teach and mentor young puppeteers.[9]

Awards and recognitions

Davis earned Citations of Excellence from UNIMA-USA for five productions. These include The Leprechaun of Donegal (1980), The Golden Axe (1982), Three Festival Dances (1982), Beauty and the Beast (1984), and Fables of Ancient Rome (1988).[2]

The Puppetry Journal called his adaptation of Beauty and the Beast “one of the most impressive one-person shows from an extraordinary puppeteer.”[10]

In 1985, Kathryn Lasky followed Davis as he mounted a production of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. She documented the behind-the-scenes development in her book Puppeteer.[11]

In 1990, Puppeteers of America recognized Davis with the President's Award. It honors outstanding contributions to the art of puppetry.[12]

Puppet Showplace Theater created the Paul Vincent Davis Award to honor its longtime artist in residence and artistic director. In 2014, the award went to John Bell and Trudi Cohen of Great Small Works.[13] In 2016, the award went to Sara Peattie, a puppeteer and puppet builder who runs the Puppet Free Library in Boston.[14]

In 2020, the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry celebrated Davis's career with an exhibit.[15] “Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater” called Davis "one of the United States's most dynamic 20th-century puppeteers."[16]

In 2021, the National Capital Puppetry Guild presented Davis with a Lifetime Achievement Award.[17] In celebration of this award, a proclamation was written by Levar Stoney, Mayor of the City of Richmond. A citation was written by Charlie Baker, Governor of Massachusetts. A personal note of congratulations was written by Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States of America.[18]

In 2023, UNIMA-USA presented a special citation to Davis for his extraordinary contributions to puppetry. They called him "an Artist par Excellence of American Puppetry."[19]

Personal life

In 1976, Davis attended an international puppetry conference in Moscow, Russia. There, he met puppeteer Mary Churchill, founder and director of Puppet Showplace Theater. She became his lifelong companion and partner.[4] Churchill died of lung cancer in 1997.[20]

Further reading
  • Davis, Paul Vincent. Exploring the Art of Puppet Theater. Garden Bay, BC: Charlemagne Press, 2018. 9780921845485
  • Lasky, Kathryn. Puppeteer. Illustrated with photographs by Christopher G. Knight. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1985. 0027516601

References
  1. Mukwashi, Kathleen Conroy (Fall 2009). "The Little Theatre That Could: Celebrating 35 Years of the Puppet Showplace Theatre". The Puppetry Journal. 61: 1: 6–7. ProQuest 1800535 – via ProQuest.
  2. Abrams, Steve (2012). "Paul Vincent Davis". World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  3. Fleming, Hollie (Spring 2007). "Paul Vincent Davis: At Age 72, Paul Vincent Davis Continues to Inspire and Amaze His Peers". The Puppetry Journal. 58: 3: 17–19. ProQuest 1795015 – via ProQuest.
  4. Morgenroth, Lynda (December 15, 1988). "The puppetry impresario". The Boston Globe  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . ProQuest 2228489471. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  5. Matchan, Linda (March 6, 1980). "THE PUPPET MAN". The Boston Globe  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . ProQuest 1009204118. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  6. Schuman, Wendy (June 17, 1973). "A 'Prometheus' by Puppets: Fantasy to Life Mostly Hand". The New York Times  – via ProQuest (subscription required) . ProQuest 119879606. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  7. Avery, Brad (February 4, 2015). "Celebrating 40 years of puppetry". The Patriot Ledger. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  8. Davis, Paul Vincent (2018). Exploring the art of puppet theater. Garden Bay, BC, Canada: Charlemagne Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-921845-48-5.
  9. "OUR HISTORY". Puppet Showplace Theater. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  10. Handelman, Elise (Fall 2006). "A Summer of Festivals: PofA Regions: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast - Asheville, NC: "The East Coast Supersonic Puppet Festival"". The Puppetry Journal. 58: 1: 24–25. ProQuest 1799686 – via ProQuest.
  11. Lasky, Kathryn (1985). Puppeteer. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 9780027516609.
  12. "About the Puppeteers of America - Awards - History of Awards, Timeline" (PDF). Puppeteers of America. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  13. "Puppet Showplace celebrates 40 years". Boston Globe. June 4, 2014. ProQuest 1531853260. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  14. Guerra, Cristela (June 30, 2016). "A legendary puppeteer lends puppets for free". Boston Globe. ProQuest 1800556122. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  15. Cohn, Daniel (March 2, 2020). "The Ballard blooms for spring with the openings of 'Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater' and 'Shakespeare and Puppetry'". The Daily Campus. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  16. ""Paul Vincent Davis and the Art of Puppet Theater" and "Shakespeare and Puppetry," February 29-June 7, 2020". Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry. February 21, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  17. Weisberg, Debbie (October 13, 2021). "German Centre Resident Paul Davis Wins Lifetime Achievement Award". Patch. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  18. National Capital Puppetry Guild (October 2021). "Lifetime Achievement Award" (PDF). Puppetimes. 57 (2): 4–7.
  19. "Special Citations". UNIMA-USA. March 19, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  20. "Mary Churchill, at 66; founded Puppet Showplace in Brookline". The Boston Globe  – via Factiva (subscription required) . November 19, 1997. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
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