Audrey II Puppeteering: What It's like to Be Inside the Plant

First, let me tell you a few things about myself. I am not athletic. I am 5'6". I am not a twig, but I am not pure muscle either. When I asked my director to be the puppeteer for the famous Audrey II plant, he was both excited and nervous. Now I understand why.

When the plant came, I instantly was scared. There was four plants, three of which would be operated by me. The tiniest one was a hand puppet. Not bad. Totally doable. About one foot tall. Very cute actually. It had a removable bottom to the pot of the plant. I sat hidden in a small desk with a hole in the top. Seymour would put the plant down on the hole and I would very slyly stick my hand up it. It also had a cord I could hold so as not to move the pot. That would spoil the surprise. The desk was a little cramped but totally fine.

The second plant is done by the person playing Seymour. This is another hand puppet where Seymour uses one of his arms to operate the plant while there is a fake arm to appear as if he is holding the plant. Since it had nothing to do with me, I wasn't worried. The next plant made me worried.

Plant #3 was about four to five feet tall and about three to four feet wide. The pod sat in a huge pot. First i had to wear these humongous shorts that had buckles on it, which attached to " root leggings" and "root booties". This was one of my least favorite parts of operating the Audrey II. These things were like waders but made of brown soft cloth that went up to my mid thighs. The root booties were these long extensions so walking in them was like walking forward with flippers on. I frequently whipped people with the feet. Totally by accident of course.

Once the leggings were on, two people would have to lift the pod out of the pot, revealing a seat for me. I would sit and get all comfy, crossing my legs. Then they would lower the pod over me. So the pod sits up right until it is time to talk. My upper body rested in the upper jaw of the pod. Then i had to sit motionless for about 20 minutes, or at least through four songs and dialog. This was the worst. It was stuffy and I couldn't shift at all. I couldn't even cough or the whole thing would wiggle. There are two bars near the tips of jaws, which is how the puppeteer works the mouth. This puppet had the most life to it seeing as the puppet is only restricted by the puppeteer's flexibility. "Feed Me", the song where we discover Audrey II can talk, is supremely exhausting as not only do you have to make it talk when appropriate, the legs come out and rock out. Yikes.

At the end of Act I, I am rescued from my stuffy cage to run to the bathroom and chug as much water as possible. Now comes even more fun. Plant #4: the big mother of the plants. This puppy is the one that eats whole actors. It is about five feet tall and at least 7 feet long. Normally, the puppeteer is supposed to be between 5'10" and 6'0" and athletic. Now you know why I stated my height and features to start this. I am not what they call for. This monster was extremely heavy. Normally, the mouth is operated by a bar near the back of the mouth that is pushed by. The bottom jaw is pulled by a rope that is attached to the tip of the jaw, so the puppeteer can yank on it to lift it up. The weight is supported by a neck strap and your thighs, so then the entire thing can be lifted.

There was NO WAY on this green earth that that was going to happen. So I had to improvise a little. I only made the lower jaw open sometimes. I lifted the upper jaw by using my whole upper body. I would rest my back against the roof of the mouth and lift with my legs. This worked out quite nicely, except for my back. The back of the plant has a tubing that was connected to a hole in the wall. When people got eaten, they shimmied between my legs and out the hole in the back. This took some practice, particularly to not laugh while doing this. If the plant didn't talk for a while, I would get out the back and take some fresh air and water. This was so nice. I also wore knee pads which helped bruising immensely.

The biggest challenge was moving the entire thing for the finale. Normally the whole plant would have been lifted. I on the other hand simply pushed it to place, so it looked like it "floated" across the stage. I also made the plant dance by simply putting my back against the roof and lifting. This was fun. The most fun was taking my bows and people being shocked at how "little" I was, compared to the football player-esque physique they had in mind. Joke's on them!

One of my favorites things about being the plant was the fact that I didn't have to worry about my hair, my skin, makeup, clothes, props, pretty much anything! All I needed was to show up and know the plant's lines. Even with the bruises I had a blast with Audrey II since I know that not many people can say they've been the puppeteer of a seven foot man eating plant.