BIO:

Johanna Smith is a Professor of Puppetry, Theatre Education, and Entrepreneurship at California State University, San Bernardino and the author of Puppetry in Theatre and Arts Education: Head, Hands, and Heart (Methuen Drama). She has directed puppet shows that have taken her and her college students around the world, but she is just as happy playing with puppets in a room full of preschoolers.  She believes in the power of laughter and creative re-use to inspire a love of learning. You can see what she’s up to at www.professorjohanna.com.

 

 

Credits:

Director: Selected puppetry productions include The Odyssey (CSUSB, National Puppetry Festival of Bulgaria, Chonqing Children’s Theatre Season), Math Mayhem (Streaming video, CSUSB), Think Big! (Monterey Aquarium), Rapunzel and Other Hair Tales (Discovery Theatre, Smithsonian Institution), From the Streets to the Screen (with Paul Zaloom, Clare Dolan, and Tim Lagasse for CSU Summer Arts). Puppet designer: The Witches (Lewis Family Playhouse), Alicia in Wonder Tierra (CSUSB), Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse (dir: Michelle Freire, CSUSB/Riverside Children’s Theatre).  Puppet movement coach: The Nightingale (dir: Moises Kaufman, La Jolla Playhouse for puppet designer Chris Green),  Puppeteer: Who Said Miaow? (dir: Gina Pavlova, Skirball Puppetry Festival), Red, Blue White (Dir: Gina Pavlova, 24th St Theatre), The Microbe Show (dir: Donald Devet, Smithsonian Institution), co-founder of 5foot2 Productions puppet company (with Elena Velasco), former company member, Bread and Puppet Theatre.