What is the history of puppetry?
Africa the Beginning of Puppets
Puppetry is a very ancient art which first stemmed from Egypt about 4000 years ago. Some historians say that puppetry predates theatre as we know it today.
There is also evidence that puppets in Egypt at about 2000 BCE were string operated and manipulated to perform needing of bread. Many of these types of puppets were controlled by wired mechanisms. Some of them were made of clay and Ivory and many have been found in tombs.
Puppets such as the stringed versions were often played with by children as toys, similar to toys today. Many of these puppets had joints and specific mechanisms in dolls and animals, where they could be easily manipulated by children.
Some Pharaohs’ used puppets in magic rituals similar to voodoo dolls. They would cast spells on these puppets as though they were the enemy to cause chaos, pain and death.
Puppets have also been used in many cultures through history for different purposes. In the ancient Middle East, during the Mameluk era in Turkish Bursa, the sultans allowed their servants to be entertain with puppet shows.
Karagoz and Hacivat were well known comedic characters who worked on building sites where they would often entertain fellow workers with jokes and humor. The sultan didn’t enjoy having these two workers usurp construction of the building of the Ulu Cami and ordered their murder.
Both of these characters were cloudlike with kura as having black eyes. However after their deaths, the workers became aggressive and according to folklore, the sultan tried to placate the workers by having the characters immortalised as puppets, hence the Karagoz shadow puppet theater.
Asian History of Puppetry
In South East Asia a puppet dating to 2500 BC has been shown to have a head which could be manipulated which suggest puppetry was utilised in performance. There was also found a terracotta monkey which could move up and down the stick which suggested a type of animation was utilised.
Works like the Natya Shastra and the Kama Sutra elaborate on puppetry in some detail.
The Japanese Wayang theatre was influenced by Indian traditions. There are some historians that have traced puppetry to 4000 years ago. A main character called Sutradhara Or the holder of strings was also utilised. The tradition of this character was also used in Indonesia.
Bunraku theater is a highly sophisticated form of puppetry founded in 1680’s in Osaka. One of Japan’s most highly celebrated playwrights focused exclusively on writing Bunraku plays. Main figure was juxtaposed against a black background.
China also has a history of puppetry dating back to 3000 years ago. Chinese Shadow theatre was used by playing to all social classes.
India has a strong history of puppetry from ancient times to today. They are also well known for the use of ventriloquism and puppeteering.
Professor Y.K.PADHYE, introduced puppetry to India in the 1920s. India also well known for string puppets such as marionettes. They Also focus mainly on rod and string puppets.
Like China, India had a great use of a shadow puppetry where they used flat figures cut out of the leather which was treated to make them translucent. They are then pressed against the screen such as you see in the picture above and reflected by light from behind the screen.
Turkey used shadow puppetry which was most likely influenced from Indian and Chinese puppetry. These puppets we are known as shadows of the imagination, or shadow of fancy.
Greek History of Puppetry
Puppetry was practised in ancient Greece dating from the fifth century BC. The ancient Greece philosopher Aristotle discussed in his work On the motion of animals.
“The movement of animals maybe can paired with those of automatic puppets, which is it going on the occasion of a tiny movement, the leavers are released and strike the twisted strings against one another.”
Another Greek philosopher Plato also contains references to puppetry, where the Iliad the Odyssey were originally performed using puppets.
Ancient puppetry was also used in festivals such as Dionysus the God of wine and fertility which was played at the Acropolis theatre about 400BC. Also the public would walk in large groups with a giant phallus, of a mans nether regions on a huge platform made out of wood and leather.
Greeks also used ivory and leather to make masks but also their puppets.
Italy’s use of Puppetry
Many consider Italy to be the original creators of the marionette in the Western world. Marionettes are puppets which are malleable using string attached to a framework usually made out of wood. This manipulation was utilised from above. The Christian church often used marionettes to perform morality plays and interestingly, the name was coined from the word Mary, the Virgin Mary or a Mary doll.
Performances also included comedic performances, however the church forbade this type of performance due to the perception of vulgarity and low brow humor, so for many years marionettes were used for dramatic and or morality plays which was to align well with the Christian church.
Later however during the Renaissance period, comedic puppetry became more established where drama and comedy was usually performed separately. Drama featured higher class morality ideals, however comedies featured performances which supposedly depicted the lower classes with lowbrow humour. Puppetry was to reflect the society at large.
The traditional form of Sicilian puppetry theatre is known as the Opera dei Pupi. This type of puppetry stretched back to at least the 15th century. It is probable that the themes involved were of traditions and folklore? With each successive conquerer of Sicily, each marked a different period and style of puppetry.
Italian puppetry high brow
The dialogue of marionette puppetry theatre was usually improvised by the puppeteers. The skills embedded in this type of puppetry involved handling strings where the puppeteers didn’t follow a set script, but improvised the script following a basic premise. Often improvised scripts evoked humor which made this style of puppetry popular.
Much of the action that takes place with this type of puppetry was violent in nature. Sometimes puppets actually bleed during a performance using of course beetroot juice.
Many themes of puppetry in European history involved violence such as Knights feuding with other Knights, one character be-heading another character. Often a wooden stick would be clapped during the fights. Incidentally, this is where the term slapstick comedy comes from.
Many master puppeteers took a lot of their knowledge and know-how of how to construct marionettes with them to the grave. This in conjunction with 21st-century new forms of entertainment almost meant that marionette puppetry died out in Italy.
However like many things, there is a resurgence of marionette plays and making in Italy as we speak. Many modern makers of puppets today have had to learn and develop new techniques themselves.
Famous stories featuring marionettes
Pinocchio was based on a wooden toy maker called Geppetto who cobbled together a little wooden boy whom he called Pinocchio. One night he went to bed a Pinocchio came alive. He wanted to be a real boy so the story is told.
Pinocchio the marionette grows an obviously long nose due to his penchant for lying in the fictional story. However he is told by Gepetto to be good and study hard and only then will he become a real boy, which of course he eventually did become a real boy. This story is very popular especially in many ‘Westernized’ countries.
The story originally written in 1880 by Collodi Was meant to be a tragedy where Pinocchio was eventually executed. However in in more recent times and with the advent of the Disney stories the ending of Pinocchio has been changed to be more child friendly version, with a favourable ending.
Marionette puppetry is utilised all over the world not only in Italy but also in Asia. It is primarily used for storytelling and retelling traditional stories from the past. Marionettes are fascinating to watch and take a lot to build, clothe and operate.
Here are some examples of Pinocchio from modern times.
By Giant Sloth
How to make a Marionette
If you’re ever interested in learning how to make a marionette check out these videos below. They show a master puppeteer showing his process in making a marionette.
Want to learn how to make your own marionette? Here is a video that shows you how to adapt a soft toy into a fun marionette.
This next video is a wonderful story between a puppeteer and an older lady where she now has her own marionette to represent her it’s a fascinating video.
Maori Puppets or Karetao ( Indigenous to New Zealand)
Maori people are indigenous to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Some past-times included the utilisation of wooden puppets or Karetao. These wooden puppets would have moving parts such as moving arms heads or legs. They were used in entertainment, story telling for traditions and cultural purposes.
Unfortunately only a few original Karetao remain today. However there is a resurgence from some Maori to revive wooden puppets and utilise them in dramatic and musical performance.
Handheld or Glove puppets
Handheld puppets are a more modern form of puppetry. Handheld puppets are usually made out of soft material where the head often has a malleable mouth. It means that the hands can move inside the puppet itself and manipulate the mouth to open and close at will. Some soft handheld puppets don’t have the movement in the mouth.
This Particular puppet is one that I (The author) made for a show called Bad- Jelly The Witch by Spike Milligan. I looked up how to make puppets on YouTube and I sourced materials and then step-by-step and made the puppet called Bingle Bonk. If I was going to make a puppet again I would make sure to source foam material for his head which is a little thinner so I can operate his mouth a little more easily. However from a distance from the audiences point of you this puppet did really well.
My hand went up into the middle of his torso and operated its mouth I’ve also attached some steel and rods into the hands to move them about as I was puppeteering.
Other Glove puppets are more simple in nature, where the index finger is inserted into the head and the thumb and second finger become the hands and arms of the puppet. Many puppets for children is use are made in this way. It is easy to use in a simple puppet show.
Glove puppets are probably the most popular form of puppetry for children and for adults today. The main reason is because they are easy to obtain make and to make use of.
Normally the glove puppets are seen from the waist upwards sometimes at head level with the puppeteer. However in some Indian theatre, the puppeteer is onstage and seen, albeit dressed in all black. The puppeteer is seen but generally ignored after a while during the performance.
Ventriloquist Puppetry
Ventriloquism is the use of a sidekick puppet where the mouth is very malleable and expressive. The puppeteer speaks without being noticed by the audience at hand while they are voicing that of the puppet. Most puppeteers act as themselves with their larger than life sidekicks. Usually these ventriloquist performances are comedic in value.
The puppeteer speaks without being noticed by the audience at hand. It can be somewhat difficult to perfect because consonant such as b p and t mean that the lips has to close to make the sounds. However with a lot of skill and practice one can get away with it by speaking quickly or using similar sounding blends without it wouldn’t send the lips move.
Ventriloquism in regards to entertainment developed in the eighteenth century at the travelling funfairs and market towns in Europe.
Fred Russell a famous ventriloquist performed in The Palace Theater in London England. He was known as the fore-father of modern ventriloquism. His little side kick was called Coster Joe. He was a cheeky and impish character who would interact and used funny dialogue with Fred often.
This form of theatre and puppetry was also very popular during England’s Music Hall and the United State’s Vaudeville shows in the mid 1800s’ to the early 1990s’.
The materials used to make then trunkless puppets are sometimes soft materials, Latex, papier-mâché and foam or a mixture of the above.
The proper name for a ventriloquist puppet is called a ventriloquial figure. However the slang term they are often known as dummies.
Famous Ventriloquists And their dummies.
Terry Factor and Donald Trump.
Dan Horn and Orson
Jim Henson’s Puppetry in TV and Movies
Jim Henson started to develop puppets at high school. Henson was a filmmaker, cartoon creator, screenwriter, and director of famous puppet television shows and movies.
He is best known for his television show called the Muppet show. The Muppet Show was based on a variety show in the theatre in which showcased a number of set performances by selected characters or Muppets. The antics involved in the show included slap to stick humour parodies and farce.
One of the most famous characters in The Muppets are Kermit the frog, Miss Piggy, and Fozy the bear among others. Henson helped build, operate as well as voice many of the puppets in the show.
Jim Henson also helped to create Fraggle Rock and American/British puppet television series, which utilised a bunch of fun loving underground creatures who love to explore underground caves and have fun. Part of the theme from Fraggle Rock included cultural differences, spirituality and exploring self. Was mainly set for children.
The Dark Crystal movie 1982, directed by Henson and Frank Oz, was a successful movie featuring puppeteering and animatronics throughout. The plot involves Jen a Gelfling who is trying to restore balance between the Skikes and the Mystics who were at war with each other. Incredible use of puppetry and animatronics which was ground breaking at the time. They included huge larger than life sized puppets and smaller puppets. One particular scene had Chamberland a Skeksie using small puppets in a scene, to retell their history, which was quite clever.
Jim Henson was involved in many other television programs as well as movies where puppetry was used. Unfortunately he passed away due to Toxic shock syndrome at age 53. He is one of America’s and in fact the worlds foremost creators of puppets of the modern era.
Avenue Q Musical Theater Puppetry
One of the more modern and very successful Broadway, musical comedy which used puppets and human actors is called Avenue Q. Avenue Q is based on a book by Jeff Whitty with lyrics written by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx.
The premise of the show involves young adults coming to terms with living in a New York suburb grappling with money, race, sex and other social issues. The show itself is a parody of the well known children’s puppet show Sesame Street. Like Sesame Street, Avenue Q was is set in a New York downtown Street.
This Broadway show has won many awards including a Tony award for best musical show. Many of the originallpuppeteers held roles in Sesame Street. Jack Lyon was one such puppeteer for both shows. However his talents also led to the ‘making’ of the puppets for Avenue Q as well.
The show had over 2500 performances on Broadway before closing in 2019. The show has since travelled around the world and both professional and amateur productions.
If you were interested in obtaining the wonderful music and lyrics as well as the musical scores from the show please click on the link.
Conclusion
Puppetry has been used for centuries by different cultures and in the world. Much of the use of puppets have utilised religious, cultural and traditional themes. Puppetry has been utilised by cultures from integrity, Egypt, European, native Americans and even within the indigenous and the fast reaches of the earth with a Maori Karetao.
Puppetry takes its form once it’s on stage or has a performance space. I can transform and inanimate object and do something magical, entertaining and enthralling. Many masters have come and gone and puppetry, but many of the legacies remain. We hope that puppetry remains a mainstay and I entertainment performa I can transform and inanimate object and something magical, entertaining and enthralling. Mini masters have come and gone and puppetry, but many of the legacies remain. We hope that puppetry remains a mainstay and entertainment in the coming years.l
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References
http://www.puppetrymuseum.org
https://www.britannica.com/art/puppetry
