It happened by accident, she says.
Becoming a puppeteer was not on Justine Warner’s radar when she was younger as all she wanted to do was dance.But after training as a contemporary dancer she encountered a "bitchy" culture and ended up drifting.
Given she loved movement and working with children, puppetry seemed the perfect fit.
"You can use the puppet to communicate and connect in ways you can’t do otherwise."
So with no puppet training, she set about learning as she went. With the help of friends who had done training and are considered "puppetry royalty" in Melbourne she "sneakily" picked up the skills.
"It was a weird apprenticeship on my own," Warner says.
The art form has its challenges, as every puppet a person works with is different.
"Their movement is different, their character is so different. You have to get to know its character and find out what it can do,’’ she says.That can be impacted by the construction of the puppet.
"Many puppet makers are males so they fit them on themselves, so on several occasions I’ve found my arms aren’t long enough or my hand isn’t big enough."
Working the puppet successfully can also mean puppeteers find themselves in strange positions for some time.
"You have to keep up good core strength and flexibility so you don’t hurt yourself."
Warner then joined Polyglot Theatre in 2006, which specialises in interactive and participatory theatre for children and families. Since then she has toured internationally, doing shows, workshops and puppet- and prop-making.
But then a few years ago a friend heard of auditions for a children’s show based on the Eric Carle book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and suggested she should go for it.
After a bit of thought, she decided she would and travelled to Sydney for the auditions.
"I was so scared. As a puppeteer I haven’t done a lot of auditions like actors are used to doing," Warner says.
She need not have worried, as she loved it.
"It wasn’t scary at all. I loved what she (the coach) did."
Warner was asked to join the cast and is now one of two remaining original cast members.
"It’s such a well-loved book. It is an honour to be involved in the show."
Like so many children, Warner also read the story when she was little.
"I love the holes. I thought they were fascinating."
There are four puppeteers on stage and each shares the narration of the stories, including Carle’s The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, Mr Seahorse, and The Very Lonely Firefly.
The show features a menagerie of 75 puppets including an 2.4m red crocodile, a life-size yellow cow, an underwater world filled with all types of sea creatures, a beautiful 3m butterfly and of course, the hero of the show, the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Carle is a fan of the show, having said it was uplifting to see such beautiful and cheerful works inspired by his characters.
"I am delighted by the puppets, and am honoured to work with the creative team."
Warner has also enjoyed learning more about Carle and his work, not knowing his other stories or that when he first wrote the Hungry Caterpillar story he could not get it published because no-one could make the holes.
"He had to get it printed in Japan as no-one had the technology to do it."
The past few of years working on the show had been amazing, Warner said.
"I love it. Even before the show starts you can hear how excited they are. It’s so contagious.
"Even when the voice-over comes on telling them to stay in their seats they’re already clapping and cheering."
While the puppeteers are visible on stage, they often get questions about how a puppet is moving.
"If we’ve disappeared we have done well as they are fully invested in the puppet."
One of the lovely things about the caterpillar story is that three generations have read it and often attend the show together.
"They share the experience together. It brings out the child-like qualities in the adults. You can see the parents leaning forward and smiling. It’s gorgeous," Warner says.
Even dads.
"I really like that."
There is also a sense of responsibility as for many children it is their first theatre experience.‘‘Sometimes it makes me want to cry. There is such magic in it and I’m so privileged to be able to do it.
"I hope they look back on the experience with joy."
The troupe is not far off hitting its 300th show but Warner says each show is different as they never know how the children are going to react.
"It’s new each time. In the first story we invite them to guess the different colours ... and they always yell out caterpillar but they have to wait. It’s so, so sweet."
The music also adds to the experience, especially when the performers carry the moon out and the music swells at the end of the Firefly story.
"You can hear the audience, they know the caterpillar is coming , they take a breath. It’s really quite emotional."
When not working on the caterpillar show Warner keeps busy with Polyglot and other freelance work.The popularity of puppetry goes in waves but has always been present in some way, she says.
"You’ve just got to look on TV. It’s often children’s things like the Muppets."
However, there were also more serious stories told through puppetry, such as War Horse, in which a life-sized "horse" is controlled by three puppeteers.
"It’s not just for kids. It’s sneakily everywhere.
"It is a beautiful tool for connecting with an audience in ways you cannot connect human to human," she says.
For Warner the best way to achieve that is to invest all her energy into the puppet.
While she does not do voices in the Carle show, she finds the puppet’s "voice" comes out naturally most of the time.
"Like the stone fish, he’s a big corpulent plum pudding, a perfect match to the picture in the book and we all use a big low voice."
The visit to New Zealand is Warner’s first and she was looking forward to it despite the warnings about how cold it’s going to be.
"I’m so excited I’ve been meaning to go there forever."
The show
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Regent Theatre, Saturday at 10am, 12pm and 3pm and Sunday 10am and 12pm.
