Monica Leo didn't realize she was about to start a theater company when she began selling handmade puppets and dolls at local art fairs.
"I got the idea of making these big [puppets]," she said. “I was having a really hard time selling any of them, because, you know, who needs a puppet that size, except for a puppeteer?"
It was her neighbor who first suggested putting on a show with the creations she had sitting around. Before Leo knew it, she and her puppets were being hired to perform.
And so the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Company was born. The West Liberty-based company performs locally, and has also toured in 31 states and four countries. This year, it's turned 50 with a series of celebrations featuring recordings of vintage puppet shows, starring Leo, who continues to perform with her company today as its managing director and lead puppeteer.
“The thing that has always drawn me to puppetry is the fact that you can build your own world and invite other people into it," she said. “You can tell stories being an actor, but you're way more limited in human theater, because you can only play roles that align with your age and your gender. So at this point in my life, if I were an actor, I'd be playing old lady roles, and that would be it. But instead, I get to be a dog, or a monkey, or a kid, or a man, or a woman, or a ghost or anything I want to be. And that's, to me, the power of puppetry. You can create the whole world.”
"...At this point in my life, if I were an actor, I'd be playing old lady roles, and that would be it. But instead, I get to be a dog, or a monkey, or a kid, or a man, or a woman, or a ghost or anything I want to be. And that's, to me, the power of puppetry. You can create the whole world.”Monica Leo, founder of the Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre Company
Leo's parents were World War II refugees from Germany, a country known for its cultural history of puppetry. Leo grew up with puppets ordered by her family from a German craftswoman, and she incorporates her heritage into her puppet theatre in a variety of ways. The company's name hails from a German folktale about a hero and jester named Till Eulenspiegel, who travels around Europe playing tricks on people.
Germany is known for its folklore. It was the birthplace of the Brothers Grimm and other famous storytellers, and the puppet theatre primarily performs stories from folk tales and fairy tales. But Leo says familiar folk tales can be found in countries all over the world.
“[Folk tales] are so universal," she said. "If you start reading folklore from different countries, one of the things that really intrigues me about it is that you find the same stories again and again, but every country tells them differently and tells them from a different point of view.”
The Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre will host its final "Birthday Happy Hour" celebration Oct. 17. You can also see their handmade puppets star in the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts' performances of Disney's My Son Pinocchio, Jr.
