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 422BC
 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 and “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.