Puppetry is a form of
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
or performance that involves the manipulation of
puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...
s –
inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a
puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...
. Such a performance is also known as a puppet production. The script for a puppet production is called a puppet play. Puppeteers use movements from hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer sometimes speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, while at other times they perform to a recorded soundtrack.
There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction. The simplest puppets are
finger puppets, which are tiny puppets that fit onto a single finger, and
sock puppets, which are formed from a sock and operated by inserting one's hand inside the sock, with the opening and closing of the hand simulating the movement of the puppet's "mouth". A
hand puppet or
glove puppet is controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet and moves the puppet around.
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Mr Punch and one other ...
puppets are familiar examples. Other hand or glove puppets are larger and require two puppeteers for each puppet. Japanese
Bunraku puppets are an example of this.
Marionette
A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...
s are suspended and controlled by a number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer.
Rod puppets are made from a head attached to a central rod. Over the rod is a body form with arms attached controlled by separate rods. They have more movement possibilities as a consequence than a simple hand or glove puppet.
Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which was first recorded in the 5th century BC in
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
. Some forms of puppetry may have originated as long ago as 3000 years
BC.
Puppetry takes many forms, but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects to tell a story. Puppetry occurs in almost all human societies where puppets are used for the purpose of entertainment through performance, as
sacred
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
objects in
rituals, as symbolic
effigies in celebrations such as
carnival
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
s, and as a catalyst for social and psychological change in
transformative arts.
[''Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History'', John Bell, Detroit Institute of Art, 2000, ]
History

Puppetry is a very ancient art form, thought to have originated about 4000 years ago.
[Blumenthal, Eileen, ''Puppetry and Puppets'', Thames & Hudson, 2005. ] Puppets have been used since the earliest times to animate and communicate the ideas and needs of human societies.
[Dugan, E.A., ''Emotions in Motion''.] Some historians claim that they pre-date actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
as early as 2000 BCE when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to perform the action of kneading bread.
Wire controlled, articulated puppets made of clay and
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
have also been found in Egyptian tombs.
Hieroglyphs also describe "walking statues" being used in ancient
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian religious dramas.
Puppetry was practiced in
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
and the oldest written records of puppetry can be found in the works of
Herodotus
Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...
and
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
, dating from the 5th century BC.
Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa may have inherited some of the puppet traditions of ancient Egypt.
Certainly, secret societies in many African ethnic groups still use puppets (and
masks) in ritual dramas as well as in their healing and hunting ceremonies. Today, puppetry continues as a popular form, often within a ceremonial context, and as part of a wide range of folk forms including dance, storytelling, and
masked performance. In the 2010s throughout rural Africa, puppetry still performed the function of transmitting cultural values and ideas that in large African cities is increasingly undertaken by formal education, books, cinema, and television.
Asia
East Asia

There is evidence for puppetry in the
Indus Valley civilization
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...
. Archaeologists have unearthed one terracotta doll with a detachable head capable of manipulation by a string dating to 2500 BC.
[Ghosh, Massey, and Banerjee, page 14] Another figure is a terracotta monkey which could be manipulated up and down a stick, achieving minimum animation in both cases.
[ Puppets are described in the epic '']Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
'', Tamil literature
Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the T ...
from the Sangam era, and various literary works dating from the late centuries BC to the early centuries AD, including the Edicts of Ashoka
The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from 268 BCE to 2 ...
.[Ghosh, Massey, and Banerjee, pp.14–15] Works like the ''Natya Shastra
The ''Nāṭya Shāstra'' (, ''Nāṭyaśāstra'') is a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts. The text is attributed to sage Bharata, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary b ...
'' and the ''Kama Sutra
The ''Kama Sutra'' (; , , ; ) is an ancient Indian Hindu Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kamasutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions ...
'' elaborate on puppetry in some detail.[Ghosh, Massey, and Banerjee, pages 15–16]
China has a history of puppetry dating back 3000 years, originally in ''pi-yung xi'', the "theatre of the lantern shadows", or as it is more commonly known today, Chinese shadow theatre. By the Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
(960–1279 AD), puppets played to all social classes including the courts, yet puppeteers, as in Europe, were considered to be from a lower social stratum.
In Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, budaixi puppet shows, somewhat similar to the Japanese bunraku, occur with puppeteers working in the background or underground. Some very experienced puppeteers can manipulate their puppets to perform various stunts, for example, somersault
A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatics, acrobatic exercise in which a person's body Rotation#Sports, rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the Human head, head. A somersau ...
s in the air.
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
has many forms of puppetry, including the bunraku. Bunraku developed out of Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
temple rites and gradually became a highly sophisticated form of puppetry. Chikamatsu Monzaemon, considered by many to be Japan's greatest playwright, gave up writing kabuki
is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
plays and focused exclusively on the puppet-only bunraku plays. Initially consisting of one puppeteer, by 1730 three puppeteers were used to operate each puppet in full view of the audience. The puppeteers, who dressed all in black, would become invisible when standing against a black background, while the torches illuminated only the carved, painted and costumed wooden puppets.
File:B-Schattenpuppe-Zhongkui (Peking).JPG, Chinese shadow puppet (Beijing style)
File:B-Stockpuppen-Abt+WeißeSchlange+SchwarzeSchlange.JPG, Chinese stick puppets
File:Hanuman and Ravana in Tholu Bommalata, the shadow puppet tradition of Andhra Pradesh, India.JPG, Hanuman and Ravana in '' Togalu Gombeyaata'', a shadow puppet tradition in the southern part of India
File:Sanbasopuppet.jpg, Sanbaso bunraku puppet, Tonda Puppet Troupe, Japan
File:Osonowiki.jpg, The character Osono from the play ''Hade Sugata Onna Maiginu''
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
's tradition of puppetry is thought to have come from China. The oldest historical evidence of puppetry in Korea comes from a letter written in 982 A.D. from Choe Seung-roe to the King. In Korean, the word for puppet is ''Kkoktugakshi''. ''Gagsi'' means a "bride" or a "young woman", which was the most common form the dolls took. A kkoktugakshi puppet play has eight scenes.
Southeast Asia
The Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
n '' wayang'' theater was influenced by India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n traditions.[Bell, page 46] Some scholars trace the origin of puppets to India 4000 years ago, where the main character in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
plays was known as ''Sutradhara'', "the holder of strings". ''Wayang'' is a strong tradition of puppetry native to Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, especially in Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
and Bali
Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
. In Java, ''wayang kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
'', an elaborate form of shadow puppetry, is very popular. Javanese rod puppets have a long history and are used to tell fables from Javanese history. Another popular puppetry form in Indonesia is '' wayang golek''.
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
has ''hun krabok'', a popular form of rod puppet theatre.
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
developed the art form of water puppetry, unique to that country. The puppets are built out of wood and the shows are performed in a waist-high pool. A large rod under the water is used by puppeteers to support and control the puppets, creating the appearance of the puppets moving over water. The origin of this form of puppetry dates back seven hundred years when the rice fields would flood and the villagers would entertain each other. Puppet show competitions between Vietnamese villages eventually led to the creation of secretive and exclusive puppet societies.
The Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
first developed its art of puppetry during the Spanish colonial period. The oldest known Filipino puppetry is the '' carrillo'', also known as ''kikimut'', ''titire'', and ''potei''. It was first recorded in 1879. It involves small carts used in puppet plays with figures made of cardboard utilized for shadow plays. In the late 1800s, another Filipino puppetry developed. '' Higantes'' are giant papier-mâché
file:JacmelMardiGras.jpg, upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti
Papier-mâché ( , , - the French term "mâché" here means "crushed and ground") is a versatile craft technique with roots in ancient China, in which waste paper is s ...
puppets, numbering more than a hundred, paraded through town during the Higantes Festival. These puppets are made as a devotion to San Clemente and as a mockery against colonial-era land owners who discriminated Filipinos. Various traditions are connected with the ''higantes''. Since the 20th century, multiple puppet arts have developed in the Philippines. A notable Filipino puppeteer is Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio.
In Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
, today called Myanmar, an elaborate form of puppet shows, called Yoke thé, evolved, based on royal patronage. The probable date of the origin of Burmese marionettes is given as around 1780, during the reign of King Singu Min, and their introduction is credited to the Minister of Royal Entertainment, U Thaw. From their inception, marionettes enjoyed great popularity in the courts of the Konbaung dynasty
The Konbaung dynasty (), also known as the Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်), was the last dynasty that ruled Burma from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in history of Mya ...
. Little has changed since the creation of the art by U Thaw, and the set of characters developed by him is still in use today.
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Wajang kulit pop voorstellende Kumbakarna. TMnr 8-276.jpg, Wayang Kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
(Shadow Puppet) Kumbakarna, Tropenmuseum Collections, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, before 1914
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Wajangfiguur van perkament voorstellende Gatot Kaca TMnr 8-273.jpg, Wayang Kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
(Shadow Puppet) Gatot Kaca, Tropenmuseum Collections, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, before 1914
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Wajangpop van karbouwenhuid voorstellende Wibisana TMnr 809-29a.jpg, Wayang Kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
(Shadow Puppet) Wibisana, Tropenmuseum Collections, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
before 1933
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Wajangpop TMnr 4833-101.jpg, Wayang Kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
(Shadow Puppet) Princess Shinta, Tropenmuseum Collections, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
before 1983
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Wajang kulit pop voorstellende Yudhistira TMnr 8-264.jpg, Wayang Kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
(Shadow Puppet) Yudhishthira, Tropenmuseum Collections, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
before 1914
COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Wajangfiguur voorstellende de hemelnymf Dewi Tari TMnr 883-13.jpg, Wayang Kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
(Shadow Puppet) Princess Tari, Tropenmuseum Collections, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
before 1934
File:Wayang Pandawa.jpg, Wayang kulit
( ) is a traditional form of shadow puppetry originally found in the cultures of Java and Bali in Indonesia. In a performance, the puppet figures are rear-projected on a taut linen screen with a coconut oil (or electric) light. The (shadow ...
, a puppet-shadow play of Java, Bali, and Lombok from Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
File:Yokethe at bagan 2010.JPG, Yoke thé puppets, depicting royal patronage, from Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
File:รัฐบาลเป็นเจ้าภาพเลี้ยงอาหารกลางวันแก่ H.E.Ms.Quentin - Flickr - Abhisit Vejjajiva (12).jpg, Hun krabok, puppets handled by three performers from Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, Higantes, giant papier-mâché puppets paraded during the Higantes Festival from the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
File:Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre2.JPG, Water puppetry, a unique art originating from Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
India
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
has a long tradition of puppetry. In the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
'' there are references to puppets. Another ancient reference to puppetry is found in Tamil classic ‘Silappadikaaram’ written around 1st or 2nd century B.C. Kathputli, a form of string puppet performance native to Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
, is notable and there are many Indian ventriloquists and puppeteers. The first Indian ventriloquist, Professor Y. K. Padhye, introduced this form of puppetry to India in the 1920s and his son, Ramdas Padhye, subsequently popularised ventriloquism and puppetry. Almost all types of puppets are found in India.
;String puppets
India has a rich and ancient tradition of string puppets or marionettes. Marionettes with jointed limbs controlled by strings allow far greater flexibility and are therefore the most articulate of the puppets. Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are some of the regions where this form of puppetry has flourished. The traditional marionettes of Rajasthan are known as '' Kathputli''. Carved from a single piece of wood, these puppets are like large dolls that are colourfully dressed. The string puppets of Orissa are known as '' Kundhei''. The string puppets of Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
are called ''Gombeyatta''. Puppets from Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, known as ''Bommalattam'', combine the techniques of rod and string puppets.
;Shadow Puppets
Shadow puppets are an ancient part of India's culture and art, particularly regionally as the ''keelu bomme'' and '' Tholu bommalata'' of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
, the '' Togalu gombeyaata'' in Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, the ''charma bahuli natya'' in Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, the '' Ravana chhaya'' in Odisha
Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
, the '' Tholpavakoothu'' in Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
and the ''thol bommalatta'' in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. Shadow puppet play is also found in pictorial traditions in India, such as temple mural painting, loose-leaf folio paintings, and the narrative paintings. Dance forms such as the Chhau of Odisha
Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
literally mean "shadow". The shadow theatre dance drama theatre are usually performed on platform stages attached to Hindu temple
A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...
s, and in some regions these are called ''Koothu Madams'' or ''Koothambalams''. In many regions, the puppet drama play is performed by itinerant artist families on temporary stages during major temple festivals. Legends from the Hindu epics ''Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
'' and the ''Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...
'' dominate their repertoire. However, the details and the stories vary regionally.
During the 19th century and early parts of the 20th century of the colonial era, Indologists believed that shadow puppet plays had become extinct in India, though mentioned in its ancient Sanskrit texts. In the 1930s and thereafter, states Stuart Blackburn, these fears of its extinction were found to be false as evidence emerged that shadow puppetry had remained a vigorous rural tradition in central Kerala mountains, most of Karnataka, northern Andhra Pradesh, parts of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and southern Maharashtra. The Marathi people, particularly of low caste, had preserved and vigorously performed the legends of Hindu epics as a folk tradition. The importance of Marathi artists is evidenced, states Blackburn, from the puppeteers speaking Marathi as their mother tongue in many non-Marathi speaking states of India.
According to Beth Osnes, the '' tholu bommalata'' shadow puppet theatre dates back to the 3rd century BCE, and has attracted patronage ever since. The puppets used in a ''tholu bommalata'' performance, states Phyllis Dircks, are "translucent, lusciously multicolored leather figures four to five feet tall, and feature one or two articulated arms". The process of making the puppets is an elaborate ritual, where the artist families in India pray, go into seclusion, produce the required art work, then celebrate the "metaphorical birth of a puppet" with flowers and incense.
The ''tholu pava koothu'' of Kerala uses leather puppets whose images are projected on a backlit screen. The shadows are used to creatively express characters and stories in the ''Ramayana
The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
''. A complete performance of the epic can take forty-one nights, while an abridged performance lasts as few as seven days. One feature of the ''tholu pava koothu'' show is that it is a team performance of puppeteers, while other shadow plays such as the ''wayang'' of Indonesia are performed by a single puppeteer for the same ''Ramayana'' story. There are regional differences within India in the puppet arts. For example, women play a major role in shadow play theatre in most parts of India, except in Kerala and Maharashtra. Almost everywhere, except Odisha, the puppets are made from tanned deer skin, painted and articulated. Translucent leather puppets are typical in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, while opaque puppets are typical in Kerala and Odisha. The artist troupes typically carry over a hundred puppets for their performance in rural India.
;Rod puppets
Rod puppets are an extension of glove-puppets, but are often much larger and supported and manipulated by rods from below. This form of puppetry now is found mostly in West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
and Orissa. The traditional rod puppet form of West Bengal is known as ''Putul Nautch''. They are carved from wood and follow the various artistic styles of a particular region. The traditional rod puppet of Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
is known as ''Yampuri''.
;Glove puppets
Glove puppets are also known as sleeve, hand or palm puppets. The head is made of either papier mâché, cloth or wood, with two hands emerging from just below the neck. The rest of the figure consists of a long, flowing skirt. These puppets are like limp dolls, but in the hands of an able puppeteer, are capable of producing a wide range of movements. The manipulation technique is simple the movements are controlled by the human hand, the first finger inserted in the head and the middle finger and the thumb in the two arms of the puppet. With the help of these three fingers, the glove puppet comes alive.
The tradition of glove puppets in India is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Kerala. In Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
, glove puppet plays usually present social themes, whereas in Orissa such plays are based on stories of Radha and Krishna. In Orissa, the puppeteer plays a ''dholak
The ''dholak'' is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The dholak is most commonly recognised in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but can also be found amongst the Indo-Diaspora in countries s ...
'' (hand drum) with one hand and manipulates the puppet with the other. The delivery of the dialogue, the movement of the puppet and the beat of the dholak are well synchronised and create a dramatic atmosphere. In Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
, the traditional glove puppet play is called ''Pavakoothu''.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
has produced a form of puppetry known as buz-baz. During a performance a puppeteer will simultaneously operate a marionette of a markhor while playing a dambura (long-necked lute).
West Asia
Middle Eastern puppetry, like its other theatre forms, is influenced by the Islamic culture. Karagoz, the Turkish Shadow Theatre, has widely influenced puppetry in the region and it is thought to have passed from China by way of India. Later, it was taken by the Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
from the Chinese and passed to the Turkish peoples of Central Asia. The art of Shadow Theater was brought to Anatolia
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
by the Turkish people emigrating from Central Asia. Other scholars claim that shadow theater came to Anatolia in the 16th century from Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The advocates of this view claim that shadow theatre found its way into the Ottoman palaces when Yavuz Sultan Selim conquered Egypt in 1517. He saw shadow theatre performed during a party in his honour and he was said to be so impressed with it that he took the puppeteer back to his palace in Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
where his 21-year -old son, later Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, developed an interest in the plays.
In other areas, the style of shadow puppetry known as ''khayal al-zill'', a metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...
translated as "shadows of the imagination" or "shadow of fancy", still survives. This is a shadow play with live music, "the accompaniment of drums, tambourines and flutes...also..."special effects" – smoke, fire, thunder, rattles, squeaks, thumps, and whatever else might elicit a laugh or a shudder from his audience"
In Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, puppets are known to have existed much earlier than 1000 AD, but initially only glove and string puppets were popular . Other genres of puppetry emerged during the Qajar era (18th and 19th centuries) as influences from Turkey spread to the region. ''Kheimeh Shab-Bazi'' is a traditional Persian puppet show which is performed in a small chamber by a musical performer and a storyteller called a ''morshed'' or ''naghal''. These shows often take place alongside storytelling in traditional tea and coffee-houses (''Ghahve-Khane''). The dialogue takes place between the morshed and the puppets. A recent example of puppetry in Iran is the touring opera '' Rostam and Sohrab''.
Europe
Ancient Greece and Rome
Although there are few remaining examples of puppets from ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
, historical literature and archaeological findings shows the existence of puppetry. The Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
word translated as "puppet" is "νευρόσπαστος" (''nevrospastos''), which literally means "drawn by strings, string-pulling", from "νεῦρον" (''nevron''), meaning either "sinew, tendon, muscle, string", or "wire", and "σπάω" (''spaō''), meaning "draw, pull". Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
referred to pulling strings to control heads, hands and eyes, shoulders and legs. Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's work also contains references to puppetry. The ''Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'' and the ''Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
'' were presented using puppetry. The roots of European puppetry probably extend back to the Greek plays with puppets played to the "common people" in the 5th century BC. By the 3rd century BC these plays would appear in the Theatre of Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
at the Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...
.
In ancient Greece and ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
clay dolls, and a few of ivory, dated from around 500 BC, were found in children's tombs. These dolls had articulated arms and legs, and in some cases an iron rod extending up from the tops of their heads. This rod was used to manipulate the doll from above, as it is done today in Sicilian puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of rods. Some researchers believe these ancient figures were simply toys and not puppets, due to their small size.
Italy
;Middle Ages and Renaissance
Italy is considered by many to be the early home of the marionette due to the influence of Roman puppetry. Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
and Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
refer to them.[Binyon, Helen, ''Puppetry Today'', p.11] The Christian church used marionettes to perform morality plays. It is believed that the word marionette
A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by ...
originates from the little figures of the Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, hence the word "marionette" or "Mary doll. Comedy was introduced to the plays as time went by, and ultimately led to a church edict banning puppetry. Puppeteers responded by setting up stages outside cathedrals and became even more ribald and slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
. Out of this grew the Italian comedy called Commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...
. Puppets were used at times in this form of theatre and sometimes Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's plays were performed using marionettes instead of actors. An early depiction of a puppet show within a castelet (shown right) illustrates fol. 54v of ''Li romans du boin roi Alixandre'' ('The Romance of the Good King Alexander'), a Flemish manuscript illuminated by the workshop of Jehan de Grise between 1338 and 1344.
In Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, the sides of donkey carts are decorated with intricate, painted scenes from the Frankish romantic poems, such as '' The Song of Roland''. These same tales are enacted in traditional puppet theatres featuring hand-made marionettes of wood. In Sicilian this is called " Opera dei pupi", or "Opera of the puppets". The "Opera dei pupi" and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorie, the word for storyteller, are rooted in the Provençal troubadour tradition, in Sicily during the reign of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II (, , , ; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI, Holy Roman ...
, in the first half of the 13th century.
;18th and 19th centuries
The 18th century was a vital period in the development of all Italian theatre, including the marionette theatre. The rod puppet was mainly of lower-class origin, but the marionette theatre was popular in aristocratic
Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats.
Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...
circles, as a celebration of the Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...
. The effects, and the artful and complex construction of the puppets, the puppet theatres, and the puppet narratives, were all popular, particularly in Venice. In the 19th century, the marionettes of Pietro Radillo became more complex and instead of just the rod and two strings, Radillo's marionettes were controlled by as many as eight strings, which increased control over the individual body parts of the marionettes.
France
Guignol is the main character in the French puppet show which has come to bear his name. Although often thought of as children's entertainment, Guignol's sharp wit and linguistic verve have always been appreciated by adults as well, as shown by the motto of a prominent Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
troupe: "Guignol amuses children… and witty adults". Laurent Mourguet, Guignol's creator, fell on hard times during the French Revolution, and in 1797 started to practice dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...
, which in those days was simply the pulling of teeth. To attract patients, he started setting up a puppet show in front of his dentist's chair.
His first shows featured Polichinelle, a character borrowed from the Italian commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...
. By 1804 the success was such that he gave up dentistry altogether and became a professional puppeteer, creating his own scenarios drawing on the concerns of his working-class audience and improvising references to the news of the day. He developed characters closer to the daily lives of his Lyon audience, first Gnafron, a wine-loving cobbler, and in 1808 Guignol. Other characters, including Guignol's wife Madelon and the gendarme Flagéolet soon followed, but these are never much more than foils for the two heroes. Guignol's inevitable victory is always the triumph of good over evil.
Great Britain
The traditional British ''Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Mr Punch and one other ...
'' puppetry traces its roots to the 16th century to the Italian commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...
.[Binyon, Helen, ''Puppetry Today'', p.36] The character of "Punch" derives from the character Pulcinella
Pulcinella (; ) is a classical character that originated in commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. Pulcinella's versatility in status and attitude has captivated audiences worldwide and kept ...
, which was Anglicized to ''Punchinello''. He is a manifestation of the Lord of Misrule
In England, the Lord of Misrule – known in Scotland as the Abbot of Unreason and in France as the ''Prince des Sots'' – was an officer sortition, appointed by lot during Christmastide to preside over the Feast of Fools. The Lor ...
and Trickster
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...
, figures of deep-rooted mythologies. Punch's wife was originally "Joan", but later became "Judy". In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the familiar ''Punch and Judy'' puppet show which existed in Britain was performed in an easily transportable booth. The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild in the early 20th century instigated a resurgence of puppetry. Two of the Guild's founders, H. W. Whanslaw and Waldo Lanchester, both worked to promote and develop puppetry with publications of books and literature, mainly focusing on the art of the marionette. Lanchester had a touring theatre and a permanent venue in Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern (, locally also: ) is a spa town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is ...
, regularly taking part in the Malvern Festival and attracting the attention of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
. One of Shaw's last plays, ''Shakes versus Shav
''Shakes versus Shav'' (1949) is a puppet play written by George Bernard Shaw. It was Shaw's last completed dramatic work. The play runs for 10 minutes in performance and comprises a comic argument between Shaw and Shakespeare, with the two pla ...
'', was written for and first performed in 1949 by the company.
From 1957 to 1969, Gerry Anderson produced many television series starring marionettes, starting with Roberta Leigh's '' The Adventures of Twizzle'' and ending with '' The Secret Service''. Many of these series (the most famous of which was '' Thunderbirds'') employed a technique called Supermarionation
Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", " marionette" and "animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet T ...
, which automatically synchronized the pre-recorded character dialogue to the puppets' mouth movements. Anderson returned to puppetry in 1983 with '' Terrahawks'' and the unaired pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
'' Space Police'' in 1987.
Current British puppetry theatres include the Little Angel Theatre in Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
, London, Puppet Theatre Barge in London, Norwich Puppet Theatre, the Harlequin Puppet Theatre, Rhos-on-Sea, Wales, and the Biggar Puppet Theatre, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. British puppetry now covers a wide range of styles and approaches. There are also a number of British theatre companies, including Horse and Bamboo Theatre, and Green Ginger, which integrate puppetry into highly visual productions. From 1984 to 1996, puppetry was used as a vehicle for political satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...
in the British television series '' Spitting Image''. Puppetry has also been influencing mainstream theatre, and several recent productions combine puppetry with live action, including '' Warhorse'', at the Royal National Theatre
The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...
and '' Madam Butterfly'' at the English National Opera
English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...
.
Netherlands, Denmark, Romania, and Russia
Many regional variants of Pulcinella were developed as the character spread across Europe. In the Netherlands it is ''Jan Klaassen'' (and Judy is ''Katrijn''); in Denmark ''Mester Jackel''; in Russia ''Petrushka''; and in Romania ''Vasilache''. In Russia, the Central Puppet Theatre in Moscow and its branches in every part of the country enhanced the reputation of the puppeteer and puppetry in general.
PereDuchesneIllustre6 1 0.png, Polichinelle caricature, France
Teatro dei burattini.jpg, Puppet theater with Gioppino and Brighella, Bergamo Italy
Tchantches.jpg, Traditional puppets from Liège, Belgium
Germany and Austria
There is a long tradition of puppetry in Germany and Austria. Much of it derives from the 16th-century tradition of the Italian commedia dell'arte
Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...
. The German version of the British character of 'Punch' is called Kasperle
Kasperle, Kasper, or Kasperl (different spellings in German variants and dialects; ) is a traditional puppet character from Austria, German-speaking Switzerland and Germany. Its roots date to 17th century, and it was at times so popular that ''K ...
of Kaspar while Judy is called Grete. In the 18th century, operas were specifically composed for marionette puppets. Gluck, Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
, de Falla and Respighi all composed adult operas for marionettes.
In 1855, Count Franz Pocci founded the Munich Marionette Theatre. A German dramatist, poet, painter and composer, Pocci wrote 40 puppet plays for his theatre. Albrecht Roser has made a considerable impact with his marionettes in Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. His characters ''Clown Gustaf'' and ''Grandmother'' are well-known. ''Grandmother'', while outwardly charming, is savagely humorous in her observations about all aspects of society and the absurdities of life.
In Lindau
Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...
, the Lindau Marionette Opera was founded in 2000 by Bernard Leismueller and Ralf Hechelmann. The company performs a large number of operas as well as a marionette ballet, ''Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
''.
In Augsburg, the historic Augsburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1943 by Walter Oehmichen. It continues to this day along with an adjoining puppet museum under the grandsons of the founder, Klaus Marschall and Juergen Marschall.
Much earlier in nearby Salzburg
Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...
, Austria, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher and is world-famous. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre still continues the tradition of presenting full-length opera using marionettes in their own purpose built theatre until recently under the direction of Gretl Aicher. It performs mainly operas such as '' Die Fledermaus'' and ''The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
'' and a small number of ballets such as ''The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...
''. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre productions are aimed for adults although children are of course welcome.
There is also a marionette theatre at Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna founded by Christine Hierzer-Riedler and Werner Hierzer over 40 years ago. The marionette theatre performs world famous operas, musicals and fairy tales.
Czech Republic and Slovakia
Marionette puppet theatre has had a very long history in entertainment in Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, and elsewhere in the former Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
and then in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
and Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
. It can be traced deep into the early part of the Middle Ages.[''Czech Puppet Theatre'' by Alice Dubská, Jan Novák, Nina Malíková a Marie Zdeňková, p.6] Marionettes first appeared around the time of the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
. The first noted Czech puppeteer was Jan Jiří Brat, who was born in 1724. He was the son of a local carpenter and created his own puppet theatre. Matěj Kopecký was the most famous 19th-century Czech puppeteer, and was responsible for communicating the ideas of national awareness.
In 1911, Jindřich Veselý
Jindřich Veselý (15 June 1885 – 19 September 1939) was a Czechs, Czech pedagogue, publicist, historian on the field of puppetry and author of puppet theatre plays.
Early life and education
Veselý was born in Bavorov to a family of a pedagogu ...
co-founded the Czech Association of Friends of Puppet Theatre and in 1912 advocated the publication of the oldest specialist puppet-theatre magazine still published today, ''Loutkář
''Loutkář'' ("The Puppeteer") is a Czech Republic, Czech theatre magazine providing information about the Czech, Slovakia, Slovak and world puppet theatre.
History and profile
Established in 1912, ''Loutkář'' is the oldest specialist Puppet t ...
''. Veselý played a key role in founding UNIMA (International Puppetry Association) in 1929, and was elected its first president.
In 1920 and 1926 respectively, Josef Skupa created his most famous puppet characters: Spejbl and Hurvínek, comical father and his rascal son. In 1930, he set up the first modern professional puppet theatre. An important puppet organisation is the National Marionette Theatre in Prague. Its repertoire mainly features a marionette production of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's opera ''Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
''. The production has period costumes and 18th-century setting. There are numerous other companies, including Buchty a Loutky ("Cakes and Puppets"), founded by Marek Bečka. Puppets have been used extensively in animated films since 1946. Jiří Trnka was an acknowledged leader in this area. Miroslav Trejtnar is a master puppeteer and teacher of traditional Czech marionette-making skills.
In 2016, Czech and Slovak Puppetry was included on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists
UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergove ...
.
19th century
Throughout this period, puppetry developed separately from the emerging mainstream of actor theatres, and the 'ragged' puppeteers performed outside of theatre buildings at fairs, markets etc., continuing to be classified along with bandits and gypsies. In the 19th century, puppetry faced competition from other forms of theatre such as vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
and music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...
, but it adapted to these challenges, for example: by developing stage acts and participating in the new forms of popular theatre, or reinventing itself in other ways and finding audiences at the newly fashionable seaside resorts.
North America
The Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'', ; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City.
Teotihuacan is ...
culture (Central Mexico) of 600 AD made figurines with moveable arms and legs as part of their funerary rites. Native Americans also used ceremonial puppets.
In 1519, two puppeteers accompanied Hernando Cortez on his first journey to Mexico. Europeans brought their own puppet traditions with them, but gradually distinctive styles, forms and puppet characters developed in North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
.
During the Depression, folk puppeteers traveled with carnivals, working with their own scripts and with dioramas and marionettes of their own manufacture.
Some advances in 20th-century puppetry have originated in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Marionette puppetry was combined with television as early as the 1940s, with Howdy Doody
''Howdy Doody'' is an American Children's television series, children's television program (with circus and Western (genre), Western frontier themes) that was created and produced by Victor F. Campbell of the United States being a notable marionette in this field. Bil Baird worked on revitalising marionette theatre and puppetry in the United States. He and his wife, Cora Eisenberg, had their own marionette theatre in New York. Ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen also made a major contribution. In the 1960s Peter Schumann's Bread and Puppet Theater developed the political and artistic possibilities of puppet theatre in a distinctive, powerful and immediately recognizable way. At roughly the same time, Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
was creating a type of soft, foam-rubber and cloth puppet which became known collectively as Muppets. Initially, through the children's television show ''Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...
'', and later in ''The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...
'' and on film, these inspired many imitators and are today are recognised almost everywhere (Henson also branched out into animatronics
An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions.
Anim ...
through the formation of his Creature Shop, as showcased in his films ''The Dark Crystal
''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy, dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell (actress), Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was prod ...
'' and ''Labyrinth (1986 film), Labyrinth''). Wayland Flowers also made a major contribution to adult puppetry with his satirical puppet, Wayland Flowers, Madame.
Sid and Marty Krofft are two of Americas most well known puppeteers and were mainly known for their live action children's TV series in the 60s and 70s namely HR Pufnstuf and Lidsville.
Puppets also have been used in the ''Star Wars'' films, notably with the character of Yoda. His voice and manipulation was provided by Frank Oz.
File:EdgarBergenandCharlieMcCarthyStageDoorCanteen1.jpg, Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie McCarthy
File:Bread and puppet puppets glover vermont.jpg, Puppets in the Bread and Puppet Theater Museum in Glover, Vermont, USA
File:Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop.jpg, Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop (puppet), Lamb Chop
File:Puppet Bleeckie and Leslie Fleming c.jpg, Leslie Madeline Fleming and Bleeckie, a character from a series of web videos.
Australia
The Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal peoples of Australia have a long tradition of oral storytelling which goes back many thousands of years. They used masks and other objects to convey deep and meaningful themes about morality and nature. Masks were carved from wood and heavily decorated with paint and feathers.
In Australia in the 1960s, Peter Scriven founded the Marionette Theatre of Australia and staged beautiful marionette productions such as ''The Tintookies'', ''Little Fella Bindi'', ''The Explorers'' and ''The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, The Water Babies''.
Phillip Edmiston, who worked alongside Peter Scriven at the Marionette Theatre of Australia, went on to mount in 1977 a lavish marionette production of ''The Grand Adventure'' under the umbrella of his own company, Theatrestrings. With 127 marionettes, the A$120,000 production opened in Nambour in the Civic Hall on 28 May 1977 and subsequently toured to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The musical was composed by Eric Gross with book and lyrics by Hal Saunders. The story broadly told of Captain James Cook's South Sea Island voyage with botanist Joseph Banks on HMS Endeavour, HMS ''Endeavour''. Edmiston went on to tour Queensland throughout the 1980s and 1990s with numerous productions with his new company Queensland Marionette Theatre.
Bilbar Puppet Theatre, established by Barbara Turnbull and her husband Bill Turnbull, toured Australia extensively under the auspices of the Queensland Arts Council in the 1970s and 1980s. Their shows included ''The Lucky Charm'', ''Funnybone'', Mozart's opera ''Bastien and Bastienne'', and ''Lazy Liza''. Bilbar Puppet Theatre's puppets are now held at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane. David Poulton toured marionette shows via the Queensland Arts Council along his 'Strings and Things' with his wife Sally for many years from the late 1970s. Gwen and Peter Iliffe also toured with Puppet People. One of their shows was ''Bees Hey'' using the music of Bizet. Another successful group were Ehmer Puppets.
David Hamilton, one of the last remaining marionette puppeteers in Australia, tours independently and formerly toured under the auspices of the Queensland Arts Council. Some of his puppets were displayed in a special puppet exhibition mounted at the Queensland Performing Arts Complex in 2018.
Comedian and radio broadcaster Jamie Dunn was famous for his Muppet-style character, Agro (puppet), Agro, who featured on several Seven Network television programs throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Formally trained in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
by puppeteers from the Jim Henson, Jim Henson Company, Brett Hansen and his Brisbane-based Larrikin Puppets company is one of only a few Muppet-style puppeteers actively performing in Australia. Cabaret Puppet Theatre, based in Brisbane's Redlands area, also tours with productions for children and adults.
In Melbourne, Handspan Theatre (1977–2002) evolved from humble collective beginnings to a large, design-rich theatre format dubbed 'Visual Theatre', and became a hothouse for innovative projects and multimedia collaborations within Australia and around the world.
A post-graduate course existed at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne in the late 1990s, but has since been discontinued.
Australian puppeteer Norman Hetherington was famous for his marionette, Mr. Squiggle, who featured on an Australian Broadcasting Commission television program from 1 July 1959 until 9 July 1999. In every episode he would create several pictures from "squiggles" sent in by children from around the country.
Richard Bradshaw OAM is another famous Australian puppeteer. He is a past president of UNIMA Australia, former artistic director of the Marionette Theatre Company of Australia, and does shadow puppetry and writing in the field.
Rod Hull also made a contribution with his puppet Emu (puppet), Emu. In the 1960s, Hull presented a children's breakfast television programme in Australia.
Snuff Puppets is one of Australia's modern puppet theatre troupes. Based in Melbourne, their work is full of wild black humour, political and sexual satire, and a handmade aesthetic. Snuff Puppets has performed in over 15 countries, including tours to major festivals in Asia, South America and Europe.
There is an annual winter festival of puppets at the City of Melbourne's ArtPlay and at Federation Square in Melbourne.
In Sydney, Jeral Puppets, founded by John and Jackie Lewis in 1966, regularly performs at Puppeteria Puppet Theatre and on tour.
Spare Parts Puppet Theatre of Fremantle, Western Australia was founded by Peter Wilson, Cathryn Robinson, and Beverley Campbell-Jackson in 1981, as part of an artist-in-residency program initiated by the WA Institute of Technology (now Curtin University of Technology). The company's first project was a puppet adaptation of Christopher Marlowe's ''Doctor Faustus (play), Doctor Faustus'' for the 1981 Perth International Arts Festival, Festival of Perth.
Contemporary era
From early in the 19th century, puppetry began to inspire artists from the 'high-art' traditions. In 1810, Heinrich von Kleist wrote an essay 'On the Marionette Theatre', admiring the "lack of self-consciousness" of the puppet. Puppetry developed throughout the 20th century in a variety of ways. Supported by the parallel development of cinema, television and other filmed media it now reaches a larger audience than ever. Another development, starting at the beginning of the century, was the belief that puppet theatre, despite its popular and folk roots, could speak to adult audiences with an adult, and experimental voice, and reinvigorate the high art tradition of actors' theatre.
Sergei Obraztsov explored the concept of ''kukolnost'' ('puppetness'), despite Joseph Stalin's insistence on realism. Other pioneers, including Edward Gordon Craig and Erwin Piscator were influenced by puppetry in their crusade to regalvanise the mainstream. Maeterlinck, George Bernard Shaw, Shaw, Federico García Lorca, Lorca and others wrote puppet plays, and artists such as Picasso, Alfred Jarry, Jarry, and Fernand Léger, Léger began to work in theatre. Craig's concept of the "übermarionette"—in which the director treats the actors like objects—has been highly influential on contemporary "object theatre" and "physical theatre". Tadeusz Kantor frequently substituted actors for puppets, or combined the two, and conducted each performance from the edge of the stage, in some ways similar to a puppeteer.
Kantor influenced a new formalist generation of directors such as Richard Foreman and Robert Wilson (director), Robert Wilson who were concerned with the 'object' in theatrical terms "putting it on stage and finding different ways of looking at it" (Foreman). Innovatory puppeteers such as Tony Sarg, Waldo Lanchester, John Wright, Bil Baird, Joan Baixas, Sergei Obratsov, Philipe Genty, Peter Schumann, Dattatreya Aralikatte, The Little Players, Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
, Dadi Pudumjee, and Julie Taymor have also continued to develop the forms and content of puppetry, so that the phrase 'puppet theatre' is no longer limited to traditional forms of marionettes, glove, or rod puppets. Directors and companies like Peter Schumann of Bread and Puppet Theatre, Bob Frith of Horse and Bamboo Theatre, and Sandy Speiler of In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre have also combined mask and puppet theatre where the performer, puppets and objects are integrated within a largely visual theatre world that minimises the use of spoken language.
The Jim Henson Foundation, founded by puppeteer and Muppet creator Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
, is a philanthropic, charitable organization created to promote and develop puppetry in the United States. It has bestowed 440 grants to innovative puppet theatre artists. Puppetry troupes in the early 21st-century such as HomeGrown Theatre in Boise, Idaho continue the avant garde satire, satirical tradition for millennials.
Snuff-scarey-skullies.jpg, Snuff Puppets Skullies from Scarey
Puppentheater Moskau.jpg, Puppet theatre in Moscow, Russia in 1958
C0614-Kstovo-puppet-theatre-at-Auchan.jpg, Performance of the Kstovo Puppet Theatre
Puppets, a 2002 photo of a lithograph from xerographic direct imaging of two 20th century hand puppets.png, Two 20th-century hand puppets
Little Amal at Barnsley 30 October 2021 (30).JPG, The animatronics, animatronic puppet Little Amal, The Walk, Little Amal, 2021
Events
The International Puppet Festival (PIF) has taken place annually in mid-September Zagreb, Croatia. since 1968.
Th
Puppet Festival Mississauga
has taken place annually in March in Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada since 2020.
Types
* Method
** Digital puppetry
** Hand puppet
** Shadow play, Shadow puppetry
** Water puppetry
* By Culture
** Vertep
** Russian puppet theater
** Glove puppetry
See also
* The Little Marionette Company
* List of highest grossing puppet films
* Pardeh show
* State Puppet Theatre of Fairy Tales
* UNIMA – International Puppetry Association
* World Puppetry Day
Notes
References
Books and articles
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External links
The Center for Puppetry Arts
– Puppetry Museum and Theater in Atlanta, GA, US.
The Puppetry Homepage
– Contains links and information about all types of puppets and puppetry.
Union Internationale de la Marionnette
– International organization of puppeteers and puppet enthusiasts
Puppet Notebook
- Articles on puppet history, theory and contemporary international puppetry in magazine published by British UNIMA.
Puppets in Prague
– Traditional Czech marionette making workshops conducted by Mirek Tretjnar, master puppeteer
British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild
– Puppet collection and information and regular articles on puppets and puppetry publishing hard copy and online journal
Cabaret Puppet Theatre
– Information on puppet making workshops in Australia conducted by David Logan, master puppeteer
Marguerite G. Bagshaw Collection
– Research collection of puppetry resources, part of Toronto Public Library
{{Authority control
Puppetry,
Articles containing video clips