About Farryl Hadari

Farryl Hadari is a puppetry artist, educator, and explorer. She teaches puppetry at the Seminar Hakibbutzim College in Tel Aviv and at the Oranim College in Tivon. Throughout her professional career, Farryl has thrilled in exploring the uses of puppetry in new forms and situations. For example, she has taught teachers in a Druse village how to use puppetry in the classroom, she has worked with a parent/child group oF recovering drug/alcholol abusers and their children, using puppetry as a new means of communication, and she has been part of the creation of a puppetry program at the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, which uses a puppet to prepare children for the process of cauterization. For several years, Farryl was the artistic director of a puppet theatre where she produced puppet shows that dealt with such topics as: Jewish and Arabic coexistance, violence in the classroom, and knowing and understanding differences.

In March of 2010, the Puppetry Center of Holon awarded Farryl Hadari with the title of "woman of the year" in the field of puppetry in Israel. In this picture, she is being filmed for a documentary about her career in puppetry.

The beginning

I have worked with puppetry in professional, educational and therapeutic frameworks for over thirty years. My personal journey in the realm of puppetry began when I moved to Israel in 1976. At that time, I knew a few words of Hebrew and was not in tune with or knowledgeable about Israeli culture, manners, or current history. I had just completed my master's degree in Educational Theatre at New York University, and I was anxious to use what I learned in order to build a professional niche for myself.

I was invited to work at a local hospital with soldiers who were in a rehabilitation ward for amputees. Since I couldn't communicate in Hebrew, I thought that I needed to find a visual basis for establishing contact. Puppetry seemed to me to be the perfect medium. I decided that I wanted to build large foam rubber puppets with them. This workshop topic, of course, did not attract a large enrollment among the soldiers in the ward. However, two men, who had both lost a leg and were confined to a wheelchair, did sign up to attend. It was an awkward start, as I didn't speak the language, and I wasn't grounded in my approach to their physical and spiritual beings.

Once we started building puppets together, many of the walls between us were lowered. I showed them how to work with the materials; words were not necessary. I was thrilled with the development of each puppet, and they were thrilled with their creativity and with my excitement. The highpoint of this experience for me was being present when one the men's young son came to visit him. He was waiting with his finished puppet, and he had it speak to the boy, who laughed wholeheartedly. The child hugged the puppet, sat on his father's lap, and continued playing with the two of them: his father and his father's puppet. The puppet helped ease the tension on all sides. It enabled a situation where it was desirable for the son to sit on his father without the anticipated uncomfortable reactions. The father was able to meet his son with his creative self in the foreground, which expressed his vibrance, and which, at the same time, protected and nurtured his wounded self, without hiding it. The father showed himself to his son, and his son embraced him.

I felt such a warm feeling of happiness in me that I am sure that at that moment I was glowing. This feeling has accompanied me throughout my personal professional journey. I feel the glow each time I see someone discover and appreciate her own creativity, find an outlet for expression through puppetry, or just explore and enjoy the art of puppetry. This glow turns into a beam of light when any of these things happen to me.

And now...

Farryl Hadari continues to be a puppetry artist, educator and explorer. In this site, she wants to share her experience and knowledge with who ever may be interested.

Additional Information

My full CV is available here