PUPPET

A 'puppet' is any representational object manipulated or worn by a person. It is usually but not always depicting a human character and used in play or a presentation. The puppet undergoes a process of transformation through being animated, and is normally manipulated by one, or sometimes more than one, puppeteer. Some puppets can be moved electronically.
Puppets are made of a wide range of materials, depending on the effect required and the amount of usage intended, and can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction. In contemporary visual or puppet theatre, puppets are often called 'performing objects'. There are many different varieties of puppets. These will be discussed further in this article.
Puppeteer David Currell states, "A puppet is not an actor and a puppet theatre is not human theatre in miniature, because when an actor 'represents', a puppet 'is'." ^[1] Oscar Wilde wrote about puppetry, "There are many advantages in puppets. They never argue. They have no crude views about art. They have no private lives." ^[2]
Puppeteer Anita Sinclair states, "Through puppetry we accept the outrageous, the absurd or even the impossible, and will permit puppets to say and do things no human could. We allow a puppet to talk to us when no one else can get us to speak. We allow a puppet to smile at us even when we have not been introduced. We also allow a puppet to touch us when a person would lose an arm for the same offence." ^[3]
Indian Puppeteer Ramdas Padhye states, "A Puppet is an inanimate figure that is made to move by human effort before an audience". {cn}

Contents

History of the Puppet

Asia

Middle East

Europe

Ancient Greece and Rome

Italy - Middle Ages and Renaissance

Italy - 18th and 19th century

Great Britain

Germany and Austria

The Czech Republic

Nineteenth Century

Africa

Americas

Oceania

Contemporary Puppetry

Main forms of puppetry

Variations on the main forms of puppetry

UNIMA - International Puppetry Association

Museums

Schools of Puppetry

See also

Non-Puppetry related usages of the word "Puppet"

References

Books and Articles

External links

History of the Puppet

Puppetry is a very ancient form, probably first originating about 30,000 years ago ^[4]. Puppets have been used since the earliest times to animate and communicate the ideas and needs of human societies.^[5] Some historians claim that they pre-date actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to perform the action of kneading bread. Wire controlled, articulated puppets made of clay and ivory have also been found in Egyptian tombs. Hieroglyphs also describe 'walking statues' being used in Ancient Egyptian religious dramas. ^[4].

Asia

Some scholars trace the origin of puppets to India 4000 years ago, where the main character in Sanskrit plays was known as ''sutradhara'' 'the holder of strings'. ^[5]
China has had a flourishing history of puppetry for 2000 years ago, originally in ''pi-ying xi'', the "theatre of the lantern shadows", or, as it is more commonly known today, as Chinese shadow theatre. By the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE), puppets played to all social classes including the courts, yet puppeteers (as in Europe) were considered from a lower social strata. ^[8]
In Taiwan, BuDaiXi puppet shows, somewhat similar to the Japanese Bunraku, occur with puppeteers manipulating in the background or underground. Some very experienced puppeteers can manipulate their puppets to perform various stunts (e.g. somersaults in the air).
Japan has many forms of puppetry. Perhaps the most famous is the bunraku. This developed out of Shinto temple rites, gradually becoming a highly sophisticated form of puppetry. By 1730 it required three puppeteers to operate each puppet in full view of the audience^[8]. Originally, the puppeteers dressed all in black would become invisible when standing against a black background, while the torches illuminated only the carved wooden, beautifully painted and costumed puppets.
In Korea, the tradition of puppetry is thought to have come from China. The oldest record about puppetry comes from a letter written in 982 A.D. by Choe Seung-roe to the King. ^[10] In Korean, the word for puppet is "ggogdu gagsi" ^[11] Gagsi means a bride or a young woman, the most common model of dolls. A ggogdu gagsi puppet play has eight scenes. ^[11]
Thailand has Hun Krabok, a rod puppet theatre which is the most popular form of puppetry.
Vietnam developed the art form of mua roi nuoc, a 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 supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers to control them. The appearance is of various puppets moving over water. The origin of this form dates back seven hundred years when the rice field would flood and the villagers would entertain each other. Eventually villages would compete against each other with their puppet shows. This lead puppet societies to be secretive and exclusive, including an initiation ceremony involving drinking rooster blood. Only recently were women allowed to join the puppet troupes.
India has a great tradition of puppetry.In the great Indian epic Mahabharata, there are references to puppets. The Rajasthani Katpuli from India is famous. There are many Indian ventriloquists and puppeteers. Prof Y.K. Padhye is the first Indian Ventriloquist. He introduced this form of puppetry in India in the 1920s. His son, Ramdas Padhye, popularised ventriloquism and puppetry. Satyajit Padhye, son of Ramdas, is a third generation ventriloquist who continues this form of puppetry. {cn}
Indonesia has a strong tradition of puppetry. In Java, wayang kulit, an elaborate form of shadow puppetry is very popular. Javanese rod puppets are also particularly beautiful and have a long history. They are elaborately carved and painted and used to tell fables from Javanese history.

Middle East

Middle Eastern puppetry, like its other theatre forms, should be seen in the context of its Islamic culture. Karagoz, the Turkish Shadow Theatre has influenced puppetry widely in the region. It is thought to have passed from China by way of India. Later it was taken by the Mongols from the Chinese and transmitted to the Turkish peoples of Central Asia. Thus the art of Shadow Theater was brought to Anatolia by the Turkish people emigrating from Central Asia. Other scholars claim that shadow theater came to Anatolia in the 16th century from Egypt. The advocates of this view claim that when Yavuz Sultan Selim conquered Egypt in 1517, he saw shadow theatre performed during a party put on in his honour. Yavuz Sultan Selim was so impressed with it that he took the puppeteer back to his palace in Istanbul. There his 21 year old son, later Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, developed an interest in the plays and watched them a great deal. Thus shadow theatre found its way into the Ottoman palaces. ^[13]
In other areas the style of shadow puppetry known as ''khayal al-zill'' – an intentionally metaphorical term whose meaning is best translated as ‘shadows of the imagination’ or ‘shadow of fancy' 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” ^[14]
In Iran there are often two people involved in the performance: a musical performer and a person called ''morshed''. The dialogue is between morshed and the puppets. The method of performance, its characters and the techniques used in writing the puppet show make it unique and distinguish it from other types of puppetry. Also, a new genre of Iranian puppetry emerged during the Qajar era. Puppetry is still very popular in Iran, Rostam and Sohrab puppet opera being a notable example.

Europe

Ancient Greece and Rome

There are few remaining examples of puppets from ancient Greece. History reveals through literature that puppetry was important. The Greek word usually translated as "puppets" is neurospasta, which literally means "string-pulling", from nervus, meaning either sinew, tendon, muscle, string, or wire, and span, to pull. Aristotle referenced pulling strings to control heads, hands and eyes, shoulders and legs. Archimedes is known to have worked with marionettes. Plato's work is full of references to puppeteering. The 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' 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 BCE. By the third century BCE these plays would appear in the Theatre of Dionysus at the Acropolis ^[4].
In ancient Greece and Rome 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, some of which had an iron rod extending up from the tops of their heads. This rod was used to manipulate the doll from above, exactly as is done today in Sicily puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of the rods. Some authorities believe these ancient figures were mere toys and not puppets due to their small size.
^[16].

Italy - Middle Ages and Renaissance

Italy is considered by many to be the early home of the marionette thanks to the influence of Roman puppetry. Xenophon and Plutarch refer to them. ^[17] The Christian church used marionettes to perform morality plays. ^[11] It is believed that the word 'marionette' actually originates from the little figures of the Virgin Mary, hence the word 'marionette' or 'Mary doll'. ^[19] Comedy snuck into the plays as time went by and ultimately led to an edict banning puppetry from the church. Puppeteers responded by setting up stages outside cathedrals and became ever more ribald and slapstick. Out of this grew the Italian comedy called Commedia dell'Arte. Puppets were used at times in this form of theatre. Sometimes Shakespeare's plays were performed using marionettes instead of actors. ^[20]
In Sicily, 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, this art is called Opira dî pupi (Opera of the puppets) in Sicilian. The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî (sing stories) are rooted in the Provençal troubadour tradition in Sicily during the reign of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in the first half of the 13th century. A great place to see this marionette art is the puppet theatres of Palermo, Sicily.

Italy - 18th and 19th century

The strong Italian tradition of marionettes flourished in the 18th century, producing many skillful performances, including the tragedy ''Dr. Faust''. Many of these marionettes survive to this day, and allow students of the art to marvel at their highly defined controls. In the 19th century, the marionettes of the master Pietro Radillo became even more complex. Instead of just the rod and two strings, Radillo's marionettes were controlled by as many as eight strings, thus increasing the control over the individual body parts of the marionettes.

Great Britain

The traditional British Punch and Judy puppetry traces its roots to the 16th century to the Italian commedia dell'arte. ^[21] The figure of Punch derives from the stock character of Pulcinella, which was Anglicized to ''Punchinello''. He is a manifestation of the Lord of Misrule and Trickster figures of deep-rooted mythologies. Punch's wife was originally "Joan". 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''; in Romania ''Vasilache''; and in France ''Polichinelle''. ^[11] In the late 18th and early 19th Century the familiar Punch and Judy hand puppet show that existed in Britain was performed in an easily-transportable booth. Modern British puppetry has gone way beyond the traditional "Punch and Judy" to explore different aspects of puppetry. Don Austen is one of many British puppeteers who have extended British puppetry. Political satire was brilliantly covered through the medium of the puppet in the ground breaking British television series Spitting Image from 1984 to 1996. The programme was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central.

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. ^[11] The German version of the British character of 'Punch' is called Kasperle of Kaspar while Judy is called Grete. ^[11] In the eighteenth century, operas were specifically composed for marionette puppets. Gluck, Haydn, de Falla and Respighi all composed adult operas for marionettes. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 and is world famous. Today in Salzburg in Austria, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre still continues the tradition of presenting full length opera using marionettes in their own purpose built theatre. It performs mainly operas such as Die Fledermaus and The Magic Flute and a small number of ballets such as The Nutcracker. 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. In Stuttgart, Albrecht Roser and his ensemble are particularly famous.

Marionettes from the Augsburgian Puppenkiste, Germany

The Queen of the Night from a production of Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre, Austria

The Czech Republic

Marionette puppet theatre has had a very long history in entertainment in Prague, and elsewhere in the Czech Republic. It can be traced deep into the early part of the Middle Ages. ^[25] Marionettes first appeared around the time of the thirty years war. ^[11] The first noted Czech puppeteer was Jan Jiri Brat who was born in 1724. He was the son of a local carpenter and created his own puppet theatre. ^[27] Matej Kopecky was the most famous 19th century Czech puppeteer. ^[28] He was responsible for communicating the ideas of national awareness. ^[11] In the years 1920 and 1926 respectively, Josef Skupa created his most famous puppets: comical father Spejbl and his rascal son Hurvínek. 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's famous Don Giovanni. The production has period costumes and an beautifully designed eighteenth century setting. There are numerous other companies including, Buchty a Loutky ("Cakes and Puppets") founded by Marek Becka. ^[30] Puppets have been used extensively in animated films since 1946. ^[31] Jiri Trnka was an acknowledged leader in this area. ^[11]

Nineteenth 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. ^[4]. In the 19th century puppetry faced competition from other forms of theatre such as vaudeville and music hall. Puppetry 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.

Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa may have inherited some of the puppet traditions of Ancient Egypt.^[8] 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.
Throughout rural Africa, puppetry still performs the function of transmitting cultural values and ideas that in large African cities is increasingly undertaken by formal education, books, cinema, and television.

Americas

The Teotihuacan culture (Central Mexico) of 600 CE made figurines with moveable arms and legs as part of their funerary rites. Native North Americans also used ceremonial puppets. ^[8]
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 America. ^[36]
Some advances in twentieth century puppetry have originated in the USA. Bil Baird did wonderful work revitalising marionette theatre and puppetry in the United States. He and his wife, Cora Eisenberg had their own marionette theatre in New York. Edgar Bergen also made a major contribution. ^[37] In the 1960's 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 was creating a type of soft, foam-rubber and cloth puppet that became known as Muppets. Initially through childrens television show Sesame Street, and later in The Muppet Show and on film, these inspired many imitators and are today are recognised almost everywhere. Wayland Flowers also made a major contribution to adult puppetry with his satirical puppet, Madame, an "outrageous old broad" who entertains with double entendres and witty comebacks. Bedecked in fabulous evening attire and summer diamonds ("Some are diamonds; some are not"), Madame's look is based on movie stars such as Gloria Swanson. Wayland's other puppets included Crazy Mary (an escapee from Bellevue mental hospital), Jiffy (a Harlem harlot with a heart of brass) and Machelheny (a retired Vaudeville comedian). His puppet Smedley worked with Marlo Thomas on ''Free to Be… You and Me''. ^[38] Puppets have been used most effectively in the Star Wars films. The character of Yoda is most effective. His voice and manipulated is provided by master puppeteer Frank Oz.

Oceania

The aboriginal peoples in Australia have a long tradition of oral storytelling goes back many thousands of years. They used masks and other objects to convey deep and meaningful themes about morality and nature. There are links between as an early form of ritualistic human carnival puppetry. Masks were carved from wood and heavily decorated with paint and feathers. In many of the Pacific countries there has been a heavy emphasis on ritual.
With the arrival of European settlers, a different sort of puppetry took shape. In Australia in the 1960s, Peter Scriven founded the Marionette Theatre Company of Australia and had beautiful marionette productions such as The Tintookies, Little Fella Bindi ^[39], The Explorers and The Water Babies. There are many thriving puppet companies in Australia. Courses exist at tertiary level at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. Australian puppeteer Norman Hetherington was famous for his marionette, Mr. Squiggle who featured on an Australian Broadcasting Commission television program for many years from 1 July 1959. The last episode was on 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 currently President of UNIMA Australia, former artistic director of the Marionette Theatre Company of Australia and is renowned for his shadow puppetry and writing in the field. Rod Hull also made a contribution with his puppet Emu. In the 1960s, Hull presented a children's breakfast television programme in Australia. Snuff Puppets is one of Australia's modern adult puppet troupes. Based in Melbourne, their work is full of black humour, political satire and is visually aesthetic. Snuff Puppets have performed in sixteen countries, including tours of Japan, China, Korea, Brazil and three summer long tours of Western and Eastern Europe.
In New Zealand a similar history has taken place.

Contemporary Puppetry

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 twentieth 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. ^[40]
Sergei Obraztsov explored the concept of ''kukolnost'' ('puppetness'), despite Stalin's instence on realism.
Other pioneers, including Edward Gordon Craig and Erwin Piscator were influenced by puppetry in their crusade to regalvanise the mainstream. Maeterlinck, Shaw, Lorca and others wrote puppet plays, and artists such as Picasso, Jarry, and Leger began to work in theatre.^[8].

Throughout the world innovatory puppeteers such as Tony Sarg, Bil Baird, Joan Baixas, Philipe Genty, Peter Schumann, Jim Henson and Julie Taymor have continued to develop the forms and content of puppetry.
Puppetry is now probably more familiar through television than live performance, but this still flourishes throughout the world. In the world of theatre, puppetry continues to be influential, and despite its 'outsider' status acts as an invigorating and rejuvenating influence on its mainstream relative.

Main forms of puppetry

★ 'Finger puppet' - An extremely simple puppet variant that fits onto a single finger. Finger puppets normally have no moving parts and consist primarily of a hollow cylinder shape to cover the finger. This form of puppet has limited application and is not widely used.


★ 'Hand or glove puppet' - this is a puppet controlled by one hand that occupies the interior of the puppet. Larger varieties of hand puppets place the puppeteer's hand in just the puppet's head, controlling the mouth and head, and the puppet's body then hangs over the entire arm; other parts of the puppet (mainly arms, but special variants exist with manipulatable eyelids, the mouth may also open and close); these are usually not much larger than the hand itself. A sock puppet is a particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock. ^[42]


★ 'Rod puppet' - A puppet constructed around a central rod secured to the head. The body can range from a simple shoulder block to a complete torso. A rod puppet is controlled by moving metal rods attached to the hands of the puppet and by turning the central rod secured to the head. ^[11]


★ 'Marionette or string' - this is a puppet suspended and controlled by a number of strings plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer. The control bar can be either a horizontal or vertical one. Basic strings for operation are usually attached to the head, back, hands (to control the arms) and just above the knee (to control the legs) ^[44] This form of puppetry requires greater manipulative control than a finger, glove or rod puppet. ^[45]


★ 'Shadow puppet' - this is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. They can form solid silhouettes or be decorated with various amounts of cut-out details. Colour can be introduced into the cut-out shapes to provide a different dimension. Javanese shadow puppets are the classic example of this. ^[42]


★ 'Human Carnival or Body puppet' - often used in parades (such as the Minneapolis, USA May Day Parade) and protests, these figures are at least the size of a human and often much larger. One or more performers are required to move the body and limbs. The appearance and personality of the person inside is not known and is totally irrelevant to the viewer. The puppeteer must never be revealed at performances. ^[47] These puppets are particularly associated with large scale entertainment such as the nightly parades at the various Disney complexes around the world. Big Bird from Sesame Street is a classic example of a Human Carnival or Body Puppet. The puppeteer completely enclosed within the costume, and extends his right hand over his head to operate the head and neck of the puppet. The puppeteer's left hand serves as the Bird's left hand, while the right hand is stuffed and hangs loosely from a fishing line (which can occasionally be seen in closeup shots) that runs through a loop under the neck and attaches to the wrist of the left hand. The right hand thus does the opposite of the left hand: as the left hand goes down, the right hand is pulled up by the fishing line.

Variations on the main forms of puppetry

★ 'Supermarionation' - a method invented by Gerry Anderson which assisted in his television series Thunderbirds in electronically moving the mouths of marionettes to allow for lip synchronised speech. The marionettes were still controlled by human manipulators with strings.

★ 'Supercrappymation' - Dubbed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone as the type of Supermarionation used to film . As its name suggests, it is filmed in a way to make it look more intentionally cheap and rudimentary than is necessary.

★ 'Marotte' - A simplified rod puppet that is just a head and/or body on a stick. In a 'marotte à main prenante', the puppeteer's other arm emerges from the body (which is just a cloth drape) to act as the puppet's arm.

★ 'Black light' - a form of puppetry where the puppets are operated on stage lit only with ultraviolet lighting which both hides the puppeteer and accentuates the colours of the puppet. The puppeteers perform dressed in black on a stage with a black background. (Most commonly the background and the clothes are made of black velvet). The lighting is specially done so that there is essentially a line on the stage, where on one side there is light and on the other is darkness. The puppeteers manipulate the puppets over the line into the light, while the puppeteers are unseen because they blend into the black unlit background. Puppets of all sizes and types are able to be used. The original concept of this form of puppetry can be traced to Bunraku puppetry.

★ 'Muppet' - A term referring to some of the puppets constructed by the Jim Henson Company. Often erroneously used to refer to puppets that resemble those of the Muppet Show or built by the Henson Company. The main puppet forms used were glove or hand puppets and rod puppets.

★ 'Ventriloquist dummy' - A puppet operated by a ventriloquist performer to focus the audience's attention from the performer's activities and heighten the illusions. They are called dummies because they do not speak on their own. The ventriloquist dummy is controlled by the one hand of the ventriloquist.


★ 'Push-in puppet' - A puppet cut out of paper and stuck onto card. It is fixed at its base to a stick and operated by pushing it in from the side of the puppet theatre. Sheets were produced for puppets and scenery from the 19th century for children's use.


★ 'Human-arm puppet' - also called a 'two-man puppet', it is similar to a hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteers; one puppeteer places a hand inside the puppet's head and operates its head and mouth; the other puppeteer wears gloves and special sleeves attached to the puppet in order to become the puppet's arms, so that the puppet can perform arbitrary hand gestures. This is a form of glove or hand puppetry and rod puppetry.


★ 'Digital puppet' - Digitally animated figure that is performed by a puppeteer in real-time using a data input device and rendered by a computer using computer graphics software.

★ 'Push puppet' - A push puppet consists of a segmented character on a base that is kept under tension until the button on the bottom is pressed. The puppet wiggles, slumps and then collapses.

UNIMA - International Puppetry Association

UNIMA , the International Puppetry Association, was founded in Prague in the 1920s. In 1981 Jacques Felix moved UNIMA's headquarters to Charleville-Mézières, France. There are national branches throughout the world. Examples are POA (Puppeteers of America), PUK (Puppetry UK) and UNIMA Australia which represent puppetry as an art form in their countries. The next UNIMA World Congress and International Puppetry Festival will be held in Perth, Australia from 2-12 April, 2008.

Museums

★ Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry

★ Lübeck Museum of Theatre Puppets

★ Meridith Bixby Exhibit Bixby Marionette Exhibit at Saline (Michigan) Chamber of Commerce, USA

★ Paul McPharlin Puppetry Collectionat the Detroit Institute of Arts, USA

★ The Puppet Museum Wish Tower, Eastbourne, East Sussex, United Kingdom

★ Northwest Puppet Center Museum Seattle, Washington, USA

★ Living Loft Museum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

★ International Mask and Puppet Museum Syracuse, New York, USA

★ Center for Puppetry Arts Atlanta, Georgia, USA

★ National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic - Theatre Department

★ The Museum of Puppet Culture, Chrudim, Czech Republic

★ The Museum of Czech Puppets and Circus, Brno, Czech Republic

★ The Moravian Museum - Department of the History of Theatre, Brno, Czech Republic

Schools of Puppetry

★ Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre, Academy of Performing Arts, Prague, Czech Republic

★ Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

See also

★ List of puppets and puppet shows

★ puppeteer

★ Chinface

★ Persian theatre

Non-Puppetry related usages of the word "Puppet"

The word 'puppet' can mean a political leader installed, supported and controlled by more powerful forces, with no legtimacy in the country itself. In modern times this usually means no democratic mandate from the country's electorate; in earlier times, it could have meant a monarch imposed from outside, who was not a member of a country's established ruling dynasty, and/or was not recognised by its nobility. "Puppet government", "puppet regime" and puppet state are derogatory terms for a government which in charge of a region or country but only through being installed, supported and controlled by a more powerful government (see Quisling).
In a more general sense, a puppet is any person who is controlled by another by reason of undue influence, intellectual deficiency, or lack of character or charisma. Thus, drawing from the above meaning, it could be a political leader, who is a facade for more powerful forces working behind him, or it could be any person who is similarly doing what he is told to do.
Poppet, a word sounding similar to puppet, can also be a term of endearment, similar to "love" or "dearie. The word also came to have magical connotations, referring in folk-magic and witchcraft to a doll made to represent a person, for casting healing, fertility, or binding spells on that person (see Poppet).
A modern usage of the word is on Internet message board communities, where 'puppet' accounts are used for personal gain, such as on a forum game. An example is Anime Style Battling on many popular Pokémon websites.
In a technical context, Puppet could mean this configuration management tool.
Science Fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein wrote ''The Puppet Masters'', a novel depicting alien parasites who are capable of attaching themselves to a human being and completely contolling him or her.
One of the worlds first and greatest graffiti artists calls himself Puppet

References

1. An Introduction to Puppets and Puppetmaking by David Currell, p.6
2. http://www.marionetten.at/about_e.html
3. The Puppetry Handbook by Anita Sinclair, p.3
4. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
5. Emotions in Motion by E.A. Dugan
6. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
7. Emotions in Motion by E.A. Dugan
8. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
9. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
10. A Study of the Korean Puppet Play by Choe Sang-su, p.43
11. ibid
12. ibid
13. Tradition Folk The Site by Hayali Mustafa Mutlu
14. Article Saudi Aramco World 1999/John Feeney
15. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
16. http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/definitions/historical/chapter1.html
17. Puppetry Today by Helen Binyon, p.11
18. ibid
19. Marionettes: A Hobby for Everyone by Mabel & Les Beaton
20. Marionettes Onstage! by Leonard Suib and Muriel Broadman, p.ix
21. Puppetry Today by Helen Binyon, p.36
22. ibid
23. ibid
24. ibid
25. Czech Puppet Theatre by Alice Dubska, Jan Novak, Nina Malikova and Marie Zdenkova, p.6
26. ibid
27. ibid, p.7
28. ibid, p.8
29. ibid
30. Czech Puppet Theatre by Alice Dubska, Jan Novak, Nina Malikova and Marie Zdenkova, p.56
31. Czech Puppet Theatre by Alice Dubska, Jan Novak, Nina Malikova and Marie Zdenkova, p.47
32. ibid
33. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
34. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
35. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
36. Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History/John Bell/Detroit Institute of Art/2000 ISBN 0-89558-156-6
37. The Radio Years of Bergen and McCarthy (Thesis) by Arthur Funni
38. Wayland Flowers Dies: Ventriloquist Was 48,
The New York Times, October 12, 1988
39. http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=163386&search=sad&images=&c=1&s=
40. Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History/John Bell/Chapter 6/Detroit Institute of Art/2000 ISBN 0-89558-156-6
41. Puppetry and Puppets/Eileen Blumenthal/Thames & Hudson/2005/ISBN-13 978-0-500-51226-5
42. An Introduction to Puppets and Puppetmaking by David Currell, p.7
43. ibid
44. Exploring Puppetry by Stuart and Patricia Robinson, p.64
45. ibid, p.61
46. An Introduction to Puppets and Puppetmaking by David Currell, p.7
47. The Puppetry Handbook by Anita Sinclair, p.16

Books and Articles

★ The Art of the Puppet, , Bil, Baird, Plays, , ISBN 10 0823800679

★ Puppetry Today, , Helen, Binyon, Studio Vista Limited, ,

★ Marionettes: A Hobby for Everyone, , Mabel, Beaton, , ,

★ A Study of the Korean Puppet Play, , Sang-su, Choe, The Korean Books Publishing Company Ltd., ,

★ Exploring Puppetry, , Stuart, Robinson, Mills & Boon Limited, ,

★ Marionettes Onstage!, , Leonard, Suib, Harper & Row, Publishers, , ISBN 0 06 014166 2

★ An Introduction to Puppets and Puppetmaking, , David, Currell, New Burlington Books, Quintet Publishing Limited, , ISBN 1 85348 389 3

★ The Complete Book of Puppetry, , George, Latshaw, Dover Publications, , ISBN 978-048640-952-8

★ The Puppetry Handbook, , Anita, Sinclair, Richard Lee Publishing, , ISBN 0 646 39063 5

★ Emotions in Motion, , E.A., Dugan, Galerie Amrad, , ISBN 0 9693081 5 9

★ Tradition Folk The Site, , Mustafa Mutlu, Hayali, Theatre Department, Ankara University Faculty of Language, History and Geography, ,

★ Shadows: A Modern Puppet History, , John, Bell, Detroit Institute of Art, , ISBN 0 89558 156 6

★ Puppet, , John, Feeney, Saudi Aramco World, ,

★ The First Puppet Book, , Hilaire, Lindsay, Ansay Pty Ltd, , ISBN 0 909245

★ Czech Puppet Theatre, , Alice, Dubska, Theatre Institute, , ISBN 80 7008 199 6

★ The Radio Years of Bergen and McCarthy (Thesis), , Arthur, Funni, , ,

★ Wayland Flowers Dies: Ventriloquist Was 48

External links

★ The Puppetry Homepage - Extensive, with links to information on all types of puppets and puppetry. After being static for awhile, it started being updated again in 2006.

★ Union Internationale de la Marionnette - International organization of puppeteers and puppet enthusiasts

★ UNIMA Australia - Australian branch of the International organisation of puppeteers

★ Puppeteers of America - National non-profit organization devoted to promoting puppetry in the United States.

★ Centre For Puppetry Arts - Largest organization in the United States devoted to the art of puppetry.

★ PuppetVision Blog - Popular weblog about the role of puppets in film, television and digital media.

★ Puppeteers Unite - Weblog for puppet enthusiasts with extensive link library to sites all over the world.

★ The Puppet Building Wiki - Wiki Project about all aspects of puppet construction.

★ Puppet Wikia