Lehigh Valley artist, playwright and puppeteer Doug Roysdon is exhibiting a collection of his illustrations and puppets in “Town and Puppet: Backstage Drawings,” through Sept. 23, Rotunda Gallery, Town Hall, Bethlehem.

“They called this ‘Town and Puppet’ because we did our first show here in about 1980,” says the puppet-maker and artistic director of Mock Turtle Marionette Theater, founded in 1978. “Basically, it had a relationship with the city all this time.”

Roysdon has written three puppet-performance plays that relate to Bethlehem: “The Secret” (2019), about Bethlehem poet Hilda Doolittle; “My Name Is Jeremiah” (2004), spotlighting Lehigh Valley canal history, and “Biblio-Bedlam” (2001), a tribute to the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Roysdon crafts the puppets from wood and stitches the intricate costumes by hand. “Sewing drives me nuts,” he says.

On display are detailed sketches of the characters Roysdon draws as he conceptualizes his marionettes and drawings of scenes to serve as reference points in his collaborations with other artists assisting with the productions.

“The performer would understand who he was by looking at the mask,” Roysdon says.

Illustrations created for a book Roysdon is working on are on display. The scenes are from performances with space reserved for poems or text. He plans a limited edition print run as gifts for puppeteers and those involved with his plays.

There are seven intricate ink drawings featuring what the artist says is Bethlehem’s “mythic pseudo history” from a set of 12 that are to be published in a “Bethleanna” calendar “someday.”

Much of the exhibit, created during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown, features characters and scenes for future performances, such as a graceful female “Fashion Plate” puppet and related renderings inspired by the New York Times Fashion Magazine.

“Look at these people posing. They are the best puppets,” Roydson says, “I could not ask for a better model for puppets.” He looks to explore “What are they thinking?” when they strike “inscrutable” poses for a fashion photographer.

A pair of wood and fabric characters wearing top hats is one of 10 sets of puppets from “My Name Is Jeremiah.”

“The play was premiered in 2004 at the Ice House about 15 feet from the canal itself,” says Roysdon.

He spent one year writing and creating puppets for the project in a partnership with the National Canal Museum, Hugh Moore Park, Easton.

“Puppet H.D.,” a red-haired marionette in a blue dress, is of Bethlehem artist Hilda Doolittle, subject of “The Secret.”

Rounding out the exhibit are a few of Royston’s unpublished pen and ink political cartoons. “I might have become a political cartoonist, but I became a puppeteer,” Roysdon says.

The Mock Turtle Marionette Theater, based in Bethlehem, has presented productions in Germany, Lakota Indian Reservations, the Virgin Islands, The Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Lincoln Center and the New York International Fringe Festival.

In 1996, Roysdon opened The Loft Theater at the Charles A. Brown Ice House for Mock Turtle’s “The Saturday’s Child Family Series.”

Royston and his puppets are appearing in Bethlehem Area School District classrooms for presentations about climate change and other topics.

Roysdon received degrees in art education and art history from the University of Akron, University of Arizona and Kutztown University.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.

“Town and Puppet: Backstage Drawings,” through Sept. 23, Rotunda Gallery, City Hall, 10 E. Church St., Bethlehem. Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday, Closed weekends, holidays. Information: www.bfac-lv.org

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com