The East Sierra Branch lost longtime member Stephen J. Wersan on November 30th. They’ve asked to post this recollection in tribute to a gifted poet and good friend.
Kudos for Doodle, Fran, and Stevie
By Donna McCrohan Rosenthal, East Sierra Branch
On Aug. 6 [2003], Ridge Writers members Fran and Steve Wersan presented “The Art of Puppetry” before 40-plus adults and children, possibly the largest audience we’ve ever drawn. They offered two one-act stories, “Yankee Doodle Barnyard” and “Our Gal Esther,” followed by a discussion of their staging, props, techniques and experiences.
“Yankee Doodle Barnyard” featured talking farm animal puppets and plenty of puns in a Revolutionary War setting. “Our Gal Esther” took a lighthearted look at the Biblical story today celebrated as Purim, of Queen Esther’s role in the deliverance of Persian Jews during the reign of her husband, King Ahasuerus.
The Wersans worked from scripts authored by Steve using puppets crafted from cloth, newspaper, and papier-mâché by Fran. After performing, they revealed that they had built their theatre especially for the occasion – “100-percent organic, no cholesterol,” observed Steve – having abandoned their previous playhouse, a refrigerator box.
On one side of the room they had a display of puppets and props from other shows they’ve given in the past, along with two scrapbooks, “Puppet Memories” and “Scripts and Patterns.” A large handmade Kermit the Frog puppet sat on the table. They explained that in the Wersan version of “Exodus,” he interviews the Pharaoh on the shores of the Red Sea and children walk across the stage with decorated paper plates on sticks to symbolize the plagues.
Fran demonstrated how to make a puppet in a matter of minutes with a Styrofoam ball, rubber bands, and scarf. She then distributed free kits to everyone for assembling another kind of puppet (instructions and accessories; recipients supply their own socks and gloves).
The Wersans’ puppetry adventures started in 1961 when Fran served as fund-raising chairperson of the Main Street School PTA in Evanston, Illinois. An article by Bil Baird in Woman’s Day provided plans, pattern, and script for a puppet play entitled “The Magic Onion.” Parents and their offspring joined forces with the Wersans for a series of performances that realized a tidy sum, particularly when the cast was auctioned off for as much as $35 a puppet.
This experience launched the Wersans into a lifetime of giving puppet presentations; helping Girl Scouts earn puppetry badges; running workshops for schools, libraries, churches, and synagogues; and appearing abroad during the three years they spent in Israel. They have developed finger puppets that express feelings to assist children’s therapists, and Fran spoke with great affection about traumatized youngsters who would not utter a word but opened up after interacting with puppets she’d brought.
The Wersans’ five children and each of their grandchildren have been involved in puppetry and have gone on to make it a significant part of their adult lives.
When not distinguishing himself as half of a popular entertainment duo, Steve lends his skills to Ridge Writers as board member, secretary, and program chair. We appreciate this contribution, but may never look at him the same way again. After all, he and Fran transported us back to the golden age of kids’ TV, when Howdy Doody and Kukla, Fran and Ollie ruled the airwaves.
Thanks a million, Doodle, Ester, Stevie, and Fran.
This article originally ran in East Sierra’s newsletter
Writers of the Purple Sage, September 2003,
and again in the branch’s anthology
Planet Mojave.