Ed Bevan rushes into his workroom in the Theatre and Interpretation Center overflowing with energy.

“This class is passionate,” he says. “What are we passionate about?”

“Puppets!” one student yells.

While students across campus nod off to history lectures or grapple with economics problems, the 22 students in Bevan’s class are talking with their hands.

The class, “Topics in Stage Craft: Introduction to Puppetry” is being offered for the first time this quarter and gives students a chance to express their artistic sides.

Speech sophomore Tempe Thomas said she considers herself lucky to be enrolled in the class, which originally had been open to only 10 students. Bevan told the students on the waiting list to come to TI for permission numbers and some arrived two hours early to ensure their spots.

Bevan was able to let all the students on the waiting list enroll in the class.

He said he wasn’t sure funds would be available to offer the class again, and he wanted to make sure everyone who wanted to take it had the opportunity.

Bevan shows students tricks he has learned in the 20 years he has worked in theater and puppetry. He has created props for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and worked with John Malkovich during a production at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

During the class, Bevan teaches the history of puppetry and the construction and performance of puppets.

Bevan encourages an upbeat atmosphere in the workroom. At times he slips into a mock-European accent during instructions and whistles the theme from “Jeopardy!” while demonstrating new techniques.

“We just really try to play,” he said. “We try to make this really fun.”

Nikki Frantilla, a Speech junior, said the assignment she enjoyed most was an improvised shadow-puppet show for which she had only 10 minutes to prepare.

“That’s been the greatest so far,” she said. “But, hah! It’s just started.”

Although many students agreed the class was a lot of fun, some said they see a more serious side to puppetry.

Speech senior Maureen Biermann said she likes to act, but stage fright has held her back.

“Puppets allow me to perform and be really dramatic without having to show my face to the world,” she said.

On Friday, Michelle Tesdall, a Speech graduate student, worked diligently to create a papier-mâché puppet head for an assignment.

“It definitely is a fun class and it definitely forces you to use your imagination,” Tesdall said. “But it’s also a lot of hard work.”

Some students said they had considered making a career out of puppetry.

Thomas said the class has showed her that the craft has advantages over “real” acting. She said a puppet is more believable, because — unlike an actor — it doesn’t have a life off the stage.

“It is an art and people do study it and dedicate their lives to it,” Thomas said. “It’s a really beautiful thing.”

Tom Burch, a Speech graduate student, also said he might want to stick with puppetry after the class is over.

“Everyone loves to play with puppets as a child,” he said. “But there’s a real art and craft to it as a profession.”

Bevan shares a similar philosophy concerning puppetry as an art form.

“It’s a visual medium,” he said. “How you choose to use the puppet relates to your perception of reality because a puppet can do anything. A puppet isn’t bound by convention.”