PUPPETRY ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT FORMS OF

PUPPETRY ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT FORMS OF THEATRE.

Began around 30, 000 YEARS BC • Used in most human societies • Communicate ideas and needs • Probably pre-date actors in Theatre • A great deal of puppetry involves storytelling

EGYPT • 2000 BC • String operated figures used to knead bread • Wire controlled, articulated puppets of clas and ivory found in Egyptian tombs • Hieroglyphs describe “walking statues” in religious rituals • Earliest written records: Xenophone 422 BC

ASIA • Indus valley Civilization • String Controllable Terracotta dolls-2500 BC • Stick puppet animals • The Mahabharata and other literature describe puppets

INDIA • Probably the birthplace of puppets • 4000 years ago • Sanskrit plays – “Sutradhara” (the holder of strings) • Puppetry described in detail in the Natya Shastra and the Kamasutra • Influenced the Javanese Wayang theatre

CHINA • Dates back 2000 years • Predates other theatre forms • “Theatre of the Lantern Shadows“ (shadow puppetry) • String marionettes are the oldest marionette puppet. • Glove puppets are the most popular theatrical form in Taiwan

JAPAN • Bunraku developed out of Shinto temple rites • Became a sophisticated form of puppetry. • Initially consisting of one puppeteer, by 1730 three puppeteers were used to operate each puppet in full view of the audience. • The puppeteers, dressed all in black, were invisible against a black background • Torches illuminated only the wooden puppets.

TYPES OF PUPPETS Hand Puppets Marionettes Finger Puppets Rod Puppets Shadow Puppets Other Styles of Puppets

HAND PUPPETS Hand puppets are placed over the puppeteer's hand, allowing him to manipulate the puppet's features (head, mouth, hands, etc. ) with his fingers.

MOUTH PUPPETS Mouth puppets are usually glove/hand puppets – the thing that distinguishes them is a moveable mouth. Fingers and thumb are inserted into the top and bottom of the puppet mouth to manipulate it as if it were talking. Many of the Muppets are mouth puppets.

GLOVE PUPPETS Glove puppets are hand puppets. The glove puppet fits over the hand like a glove with openings for the different puppet parts to manipulated separately with different fingers and the thumb. It can also be a collection of finger puppets with each finger operating a different puppet. Or it can be a simple puppet that sits on the hand “crawls” along the floor.

SOCK PUPPETS Another simple type of puppet, often made for children, is the sock puppet. It is also a form of hand or glove puppet but is made from a sock, or made to look so. It is then decorated with eyes, hair, and other features to give it personality. It is operated using the fingers and the thumb to open and close the mouth or allow it to have expression.

FINGER PUPPETS Finger puppets are very small puppets that fit over a single finger. They aren't as articulate as other puppets, but their size permits a number of them to be operated by the same puppeteer.

ROD PUPPETS Rod puppets use sticks Or metal rods to move The head, body, hands and legs of the figure. The rods are usually manipulated from beneath the puppet.

MAROTTE PUPPETS The marotte is the most elementary form of rod puppet. Originally, the word marotte referred to a jester’s stick: a wand topped with a head that was trimmed with ribbons and bells. Today, the term marotte refers to a puppet controlled from below with a single central rod.

POP UP PUPPETS Another style of rod puppet is the pop up puppet. A cone or cup with a rod through it and a puppet hidden inside. When the rod is pushed up, the puppet appears. It is similar in style to a jack-in-the-box.

PADDLE PUPPETS Another simple puppet, is a paddle puppet. The puppet is a body attached to a paddle with an extension that is controlled by the puppeteer. The puppet is articulated and connected with string or elastic bands. When the extension is worked, the puppet moves or dances.

BODY PUPPETS The body puppet is a rod or string puppet where the puppeteer’s face and/or hands/arms are visible to the audience as part of the puppet. The rest of the body, in front of a screen, is manipulated by the strings or rods or simple movement of the screen fabric.

WATER PUPPETS Another Eastern style of puppet can be found almost exclusively in Vietnam. The puppets are made out of lacquered wood. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the hidden puppeteers to control them. The puppets appear to be moving over the water. Traditionally, when the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other.

SHADOW PUPPETS Shadow puppets are often a form of rod puppet, and they consist of a flat silhouette rather than an articulated figure. They are frequently cast from behind a lit cloth, creating shadow characters that act out a story.

SHOULDER PUPPETS These puppets can be simple or complex. They are related to rod puppets but are controlled by a cable instead of a rod. They are more recent in design than most puppets and can even be controlled remotely. They are very popular at Renaissance fairs. The cable runs down the operator’s arm and can be pulled as desired. Additional movements can be created using shoulder and arm movements.

BUNRAKU PUPPETS Any Bunraku puppet is extremely complex. Each puppet requires three puppeteers to bring it to life and the puppeteers are fully visible to the audience. The plays can take a full day to complete. These two characteristics make Bunraku completely different from any other puppet theatre in the world.

MARIONETTES Marionettes are controlled by a series of strings or wires attached to the puppet's limbs and suspended by a wooden cross. The puppeteer manipulates the cross and strings to make the puppet move.

VENTRILOQUIST PUPPETS Just don't call it a dummy! Ventriloquism is lots of fun, but it too takes a great deal of practice. The puppet has a slotted mouth that works on a trigger. A good vent figure will also have multiple eye movement and eyebrows.

MUPPET PUPPETS Muppets are puppets created in 1955 by Jim Henson, they are the namesake for the Disney media franchise that encompasses films, television series, music recordings, print publications, and other media associated with The Muppet Show characters. Henson once stated that the term "Muppet" had been created as a blend of the words "marionette" and "puppet". Most are a combination of mouth and rod puppetry

ANIMATRONIC PUPPETS Animatronics is a multi-disciplinary field integrating anatomy, robots, mechatronics and puppetry. Animatronic figures are often powered by pneumatics, hydraulics, or by electrical means, and can use both computer and human control. Figures are covered with plastic, and finished with colors, hair and feathers and other components to make the figure more realistic. They are often used in films, museums and “live” action shows.