FEAR: A New Puppet Show
Fear lives inside all of us. It protects us. It cannot be conquered or erased; it must be met with compassion and understanding. Yet our society has lost touch with how to sit with and truly meet our fear. We try to fix it, conquer it, or force it away. But what if instead of beating our fears into submission, we approached them with compassion and kindness?
Fear is a new conceptual show by award-winning puppeteer Katy Williams that explores this question, inviting audiences to reconsider their relationship with fear, not as an enemy to defeat, but as a part of ourselves to understand. Katy Williams (she/they) is an interdisciplinary puppeteer based in Colorado. A lifelong visual artist, Katy draws from highly visual therapeutic practices such as EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS), which have allowed her to personify and engage directly with her inner world. Fear, first developed during a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA), was inspired by a powerful vision Katy experienced during a therapy session. In this vision, fear appeared as a purple guard dog embodying three states: healthy protective fear; overwhelming doom; and paralyzing apathy.
The dramatic arc follows an everywoman version of Katy (the Human) as she meets her Fear, first as a playful protective dog. As intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and overwhelm intensify, the dog transforms into a terrifying Cerberus, consuming the stage using shadow puppetry. Through real-life coping tools such as breath and grounding, the creature softens back into its familiar form. A training montage follows, reframing fear with gratitude for doing its job. As different, but just as powerful intrusive thoughts emerge, Fear then shifts into a small, helpless puppy (apathy, depression, numbness). A small bark reminds the Human they are alive and need to care for themselves. Through tools like compassion and kindness, the puppy returns to its healthy, protective state. The piece concludes with the Human and Fear watching “scary things” pass by, practicing acknowledgment without surrender. Fear is an onstage manifestation of coping with multiple forms of fear/anxiety/depression, using the powerful metaphor of a guard dog as our internal protector.
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Katy is currently working on fundraising and grant writing to support the next steps of FEAR. Upcoming goals are to develop a finalized version of the puppets, expand and lengthen the story, and connect with local mental health and educational institutions through hands-on therapeutic puppetry. If you are interested in collaborating on this project or financially supporting FEAR please reach out.
Fear lives within all of us, guarding us like a loyal companion.
Instead of trying to conquer it, what if we met our fear, offered it a treat, and simply said hello?