A Puppets World View:

Beyond the American Playboard

 

Inside the Salzburg marionette theater.

            Puppet shows rarely come to the American mind when thinking of high drama. However, the term “high drama” was coined with puppets in mind. In Burma (present day Myanmar), it was unlawful for anyone to physically be above the head of the king. Fortunately, puppetry was held in such high esteem that a royal proclamation was declared near the end of the eighteenth century. Puppet plays were given permission to be performed on a raised stage an called “high drama” while performances by humans such as dance, music and theater would be called “low drama” and performed on the ground (Foley). Over the centuries and throughout the world, puppetry has been an important part of people’s religious rituals and folk traditions. Today, international audiences understand puppetry to be a true art form.

Punch and Judy.

            Just over ten years ago, the Czech Republic had well over 1500 puppet theaters (Bogatyrev). China is able to claim puppet troupes having existed in families for generations (Chen and Clark). A few examples of the lengthy career puppets have had are those featured in the Szopka of Poland having had their start in the thirteenth century (Tattenbaum), in Japan, the 17^th century dramatist Chikamatsu wrote over 100 plays for puppet theater (Battista) and during the same century in Italy, Commedia dell'Arte performers had introduced Pulcinella to European puppetry (Katritzky). You may know Pulcinella as Punch. While Punch and Judy shows have a definite appeal for children, puppets continue to have relevance for adult international audiences.

Grand Marionnettiste clock in Charleville-Mezieres, France.

 

            Since 1961, every three years the small town of Charleville-Mezieres in the Andennes region of France becomes the puppet capital of the world (Marsh). Not only is it the site of the Festival of World Puppetry, but it is also the home of the Institut International Superieure des Arts de la Marionette a world renowned school for puppetry. Over a ten day period the festival offers 600 puppet shows, almost as many street performances, and dozens of exhibits (Marsh).on In the early eighties, South African puppeteer Gary Friedman created Puns en Doedie, also known as Puppets against Apartheid, a hand puppet show for adults (Kruger). Marie Kruger wrote of Friedman’s ground-breaking puppetry in her article for the South African Theatre Journal. She states that Friedman’s next project Puppets against AIDS “has had an impact on a number of Southern and East African countries (most notably Kenya and Tanzania), which adopted the puppet as an interventional tool for adults and to address sensitive social issues” (Kruger).

            One might point to the show War Horse, currently having a very successful run on Broadway as an example of puppetry attracting an adult American audience. However, the show originated at the National Theatre in London (War Horse). My point being that the use of puppets in a theatrical production is still viewed as a novelty by American audience whereas abroad, audiences accept puppets as they would any form of theater.

Works Cited

Battista, Carolyn. "PUPPETS ARE NOT JUST FOR CHILDREN ANYMORE." New York Times 17 Mar. 1985. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Nov. 2013. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA176601017&v=2.1&u=colu91149&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=1d8904044f9e2f4ad4fe27c8880bb978

Bogatyrev, Pyotr. "Czech Puppet Theatre and Russian Folk Theatre." TDR [Cambridge, Mass.] 4 3.3 

          (1999): 97. Academic OneFile. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.

       http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA55981177&v=2.1&u=colu91149&it=r&                    p=AONE&sw=w&asid=2c8399c59dddfa7a6d90a03951baf25f

Chen, Fan Pen Li, and Bradford Clark. "A survey of puppetry in China (summers 2008 and 2009)." Asian Theatre Journal 27.2 (2010): 333+. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Nov. 2013.
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.doid=GALE7CA245167967&v=2.1&u=colu91149&it= r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=0df928b688944cde6b332ad367efe94c

Foley, Kathy. "Burmese Marionettes: Yokthe Thay in Transition." Asian Theatre Journal 18.1         ( 2001): 69. Academic OneFile. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
        http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA72984121&v=2.1&u=colu91149&it=r&           

        p=AONE&sw=w&asid=7fdc56995b00465aa3f1a155b8d8a991

Kruger, Marie. “Puppets and adult entertainment in South Africa: a tale of a tentative start,          

       evolving prejudices, new and lost opportunities, and a fresh momentum.” South African      

       Theatre Journal. 25.1 (Mar. 2011): p13. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Nov. 2013.

       http://www.tandfonline.com.libproxy.howardcc.edu/action/about    ThisJournal?

       show=aimsScope&journalCode=rthj20

Marsh, Janine. "The Biggest Puppet Show in the World." The Good Life France. N.p., 2013.        

       Web. 3 Nov. 2013. http://www.thegoodlifefrance.com/the-biggest-puppet-show-in-the-

       world/

Tattenbaum, Mark F. "A good show: traditional and nontraditional puppet theater in Poland:       

        interview with Pawel Chomczyk and Dagmara Sowa." Sarmatian Review 27.1 (2007):               

        1257+. Academic OneFile. Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
        http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA157036620&v=2.1&u=colu91149&it=r           

        &p=AONE&sw=w&asid=229ba1aa9ddc1599041487c2c8dfccd8

War Horse. National Theatre of Great Britain, n.d. Google. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.            

       http://www.warhorseonstage.com/news .

Leslie Caron and puppeteer Burr Tillstrom in Lili, 1953

A treat for you for having read this far!

Today’s puppet song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yjatYPuVr4