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Table of Contents:
Interesting Articles
History of Puppets
Types of Puppets
Puppetry
Organizations
Books on Puppetry
Great Links
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Puppet History
Puppets
have a noble and ancient history. Although
they may have been used earlier, we do know
they go back to 2000 B.C. for there are
articulated figures of Deities and evidence
in Egyptian literature and pictorial
representations that show a type of puppet.
Greek literature from the Golden Age (5th
century B.C.) alludes to what seem to be
puppets in use at that time. Small jointed
clay figures that appear to be toy puppets
have been found in both Greek and Roman
tombs. Most puppets in these periods were
for adult audiences and dealt with religious
ritual. About this same time puppets were in
use on the American continent, also for
religious purposes.
Puppetry in Asia was highly sophisticated at
a very early date and persists to the
present in deep rooted traditional and
folk-art forms. Puppets and puppeteers held
honored positions among early inhabitants of
Persia, Turkey, Siam, Java, and Burma. Both
China and Japan had early puppet companies
and developed intricate puppets that
required extensive training for
manipulation. By the middle of the sixteenth
century puppet shows in Japan dramatized
Noh plays and by the middle of the
eighteenth century Bunraku puppetry
became the most popular entertainment form
in the country and drew the most talented
writers in the nation.
In
Europe in the Middle ages wandering
puppeteers performed in castles all over the
continent. Indeed, the word “marionette” is
a derivative of the diminutive for Mary,
because puppets were frequently used for
Nativity plays. Since the Renaissance there
has been an unbroken tradition of puppetry
in one form or another down to the present
day. In some countries it survived as a form
of street theatre; in others it has
developed into a classical art with
extensive production detail and public
support.
Puppets
were in extensive use in Elizabethan
England, for puppetry (variously spelled as
poupette, poppit—while the puppet
show was called a motion) is
mentioned over two dozen times in
Shakespeare and plays like en Jonson’s
Bartholomew Fair. It was the only form of
entertainment permitted during the Puritan
period and thrived vigorously after that
time.
One of
the best known European and American puppets
was Punch. His history illustrates the
mobility and popularity of the puppet. It
appears the character was invented by an
actor in Naples, Italy about 1600 and was
called Polcinella, a derivative of the term
for “little chicken.” He was transferred
almost at once to the puppet stage where he
assumed the same strutting, squawking and
uncertain courage as well as the lovable
qualities suggested by the original name. By
1650, Polchinelle had reached Paris, and ten
years after he in London where his name was
shortened to “Punch.” In 1742 a performance
by Punch and Joan, His wife was advertised
in Philadelphia, and five years later New
York was offered an opportunity to see
Punch’s Opera, Bateman, or the Unhappy
Marriage. By the end of the nineteenth
century puppeteers operating Punch with one
hand and all the other characters with the
other, working out of a portable booth,
played in parks and on street corners, at
Sunday School and club picnics, in dime
museums and saloons, circus sideshows and
variety theatres. Puppets were a part of the
American national life. During the time
Punch was developed throughout the Western
World, many other types of puppets were
brought to this country by the immigrants
who packed the small bits of entertainment
into their humble satchels as they traveled
to the New World. This variety is still
evident in America today.
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Types of Puppets
A puppet is usually
defined as ‘an inanimate object moved in a
dramatic manner by human agency.’ This
includes a wide range of figures, but not
dolls and automata. For our purpose, we will
also include puppetry techniques used in
chin and finger puppets. Writers in this
area usually discuss five general types of
puppets: marionettes, shadow puppets, rod
puppets, glove puppets, and a catch-all
classification, related puppetry techniques.
The marionette
is a puppet on strings, suspended from a
control held by a puppeteer. The
construction may be simple with only a few
moving parts, or very complex with operable
eyes, mouth, finger, etc., and a multitude
of control strings.
Shadow puppets
are flat cutout figures held by a rod or
wires against a translucent illuminated
screen. These also may be complex or simple,
depending on the construction of the puppet
and the skill of the puppeteer.
Rod puppets are
held and moved by a rod, usually from below,
and may vary in complexity from a figure
supported and moved by only one rod to a
fully articulated figure with moving eyes
and mouth.
Glove puppet is
a term applied to cover the range of puppets
that are worn directly on the hand of the
puppeteer and may range from simple sock and
glove puppets with simple moving arms or
mouth directly operated by the puppeteer to
elaborate combination glove and rod puppets
like Jim Henson’s Muppets.
Related puppetry
techniques cover those puppets using and
exposed part of the human body to create a
part of the puppet (such as a finger, fist,
or chin puppets), and humanettes. Also
lumped in this classification are jumping
jacks (a simple pull string puppet),
marionettes a la planchette (little painted
wooden figures with dangling limbs suspended
on a horizontal string), and the marot
(simple form of rod puppet, called the
“fool’s stick” and carried by a jester in
medieval times.)
It should be
understood that definitions like those
listed above are academic at best and serve
only to illustrate the available range. Many
successful puppeteers have combined several
forms in the same performance and have
experimented with various forms before
finding those that work best for them. Try
anything, be creative, and experiment with
materials and methods of control. Being a
pragmatist, I believe what works is what is
best.
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Puppetry
Organizations:’
The Puppeteers of America
PO Box 1061, Ojai, CA 93023
Founded in 1937 this is a
large organization with a membership in many
countries. It is not-profit organization
whose objective is the improvement of the
art of puppetry through educational
programs, annual conferences, workshops,
exhibitions, regional and local events,
publications and advisory services.
UNIMA ( Union Internationale
de la Marionnette)
American membership inquires
to : Mrs. Mollie Falkenstein, 132 Chiquita
Street, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
The international puppetry
organization founded in 1929 and
reconstituted in 1957. It has members in
more that fifty countries and “unite the
puppeteers of the world.”
The British Puppet and Model
Theatre Guild
Mr. G Shapley (Hon Secretary
), 18 Maple Road, Yeading, Founded in 1925
as the British Model Theatre Guild, this
organization subsequently adopted the
present title. It is the oldest existing
puppetry organization in the world.
The Educational Puppetry
Association
Secretary, E>P.A. The Puppet
Center, The Battersea Town.. Hall Community
Arts Center, Lavender Hill, London SW 11,
England. Hall. This organization was formed
in 1943 to present and develop the full
educational possibilities of puppetry as a
creative and dramatic activity. It
also encourages experimental work in
puppetry in the education of retarded,
subnormal and maladjusted children, and in
adult rehabilitation.
The Puppet Center
The Battersea Town Hall Common Arts Center,
Lavender Hill London SW 11 England.
This recently Formed
organization aims at stimulating interest in
puppetry through lectiures, demonstrations,
exhibitions, and performances. They also
maintain workshop facilities and an
information service.
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Books
on Puppetry
Batchelder, Marjorie Hope.
The Use of Puppets in the Teaching of
Languages.
(s.l.):
Puppeteers of America, 1944. 4 leaves. Found
in the Batchelder-McPharlin Collection at
University of new Mexico.
Carlson, Ruth Kearney.
Speaking Aids Through the Grades.
New York Teachers College Press, 1975. pp.
87.
The book contains a selection
of activities, techniques, and sources
to be used
by those who are concerned with oral
communication experiences of children
and youth. See esp. Chapter 4: Puppetry, Masks and shadows for
kindergarten through ninth grade.
Chase, Cheryl M.
Learning with Puppets:
Activity Ideas for Grades 1-4.
Boulder, Colorado: Northern Colorado
Educational Board of Cooperative Services,
1974. pp. 24. Available From NCEBOCS, 830
Sout Lincoln Longmont,
Colorado 80501 0…..
This booklet is one of a
series developed to make available to
teachers ideas
designed and tested by other teachers, and are gathered from educational
journals as well as ERIC (Education
Resources Information Center).
First section focuses on construction of
four basic puppet types;
second on use as a learning tool. Activities
focus on self expression,
listening and speaking \, communication and cooperation among class
members.
Currell, David. Learning
with Puppets. Boston: Plays, Inc., 1980.
Haberl, Marie Anthony.
Marionettes Teach Them. Denver: Miles
and Dryer, 1939.
Hopper, Grisella; Puppet
Making Through the Grades.
Worcester, Mass.: Davis Publications, 1966.
Keonig, Barbara and Jeffrey
Peyton “Puppets, Great Props for Teaching”
Instructor, Vol. 86 (Mar 1977, 57-63.
New York City Board of
Education.
Art Teaching Guides’ Puppets and Puppetry, Grades 2-6.
New York: Bureau of Curriculum Development,
1969. City of New York, Publications Sales
Office, 110 Livingston St., Brooklyn, New
York 11201 (ERIC #: EDO34795
The Use of puppetry
activities to project children into many
different learning situations and
environment: suggestion ns for construction
and manipulation, creating plays, producing
the dramatization and evaluation by teacher
and students.
New York State Education
Department. Language Arts,
The Child and the Curriculum. Albany , New
York; Bureau of Elementary Curriculum
Development,1974. pp21.
Activities that have been
used successfully by teachers in
developing competency in oral and written
communication. Activities described:
creative writing folders, flannel board
stories, puppets, dioramas and murals, plays
newspapers, television or radio, book
production.
Oregon Elementary English
Project. Games and Activities, Vol. 1
Part A: Drama: Levels A-B (Grades 1 and 2).
Eugene, Oregon: Oregon Dept of Education,
1972. pp. 60. Activities are deivided into
exercises based up puppetry and body
movement activities to express thought and
character.
Renfro, Nancy. A
Puppet Corner in Every Library.
Austin, Tx: Studios, 1978. (Puppetry in
Education Series)
Reynolds, Joyce. Puppet Shows
that Reach and Teach Children.
Volume 1. Gospel Publishing House,
Springfield, Missouri. 1972.
Rodrick, Bruce, Teaching with
Puppets .
Standard Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1975
(Pamphlet) Coad Canada
Puppets. Classroom Stages.
Available through the Puppetry Store: The
Puppeteers of America Puppetry Store, 14316
Sturtevant Road, Silver Spring , MD 20904.
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