Build the puppet stage. Establish where you want to set up the camera and tripod to record the show in relation to the puppet stage. As cameras on tripods can zoom in to the puppet show from a distance, it makes the most sense to place the tripod behind where the crowd will be sitting. Set up your tripod here and draw the curtain across the puppet stage before the show starts.
Purchase or rent sandbags and place them on the feet of the tripod. Sandbags are exactly as their name states, bags of sand, which weigh between ten and forty pounds. As tripods are relatively light and the camera you will be attaching to the top of it won't be terribly heavy, using ten to twenty-pound sandbags will be sufficient. While one sandbag on one leg of the tripod should be enough, the safest way to secure the tripod from tipping over is to put a sandbag on each of the three tripod legs.
Use a thick, theater rope to tie back the curtain on the puppet stage after the show begins. Secure the far end of the curtain to the edge of the curtain rod that supports it, so that it can't slide in front of the stage, disturbing the show. This rope should be long enough to wrap around the bunched-up curtain and then tied in a knot.