Puppetry and puppeteers

Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects. Puppetry is used in almost all human societies both as an entertainment – in performance – and ceremonially in rituals and celebrations such as carnivals. 

Most puppetry involves storytelling. The impact of puppetry depends on the process of transformation of puppets, which has much in common with magic and with play. Thus puppetry can create complex and magical theatre with relatively small resources. 

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. 

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, and feeds through object and physical theatre many of the most exciting developments in contemporary theatre. 

Japan has many forms of puppetry, including the bunraku. Bunraku is the name commonly used for ningyo-joruri, literally puppets and storytelling; it developed out of Shinto temple rites and gradually became a highly 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, who dressed all in black, would become invisible when standing against a black background, while the torches illuminated only the carved, painted and costumed wooden puppets.

Bunraku today is enjoying a mild revival. In 1966 it gained what it did not have in almost 150 years when the opening of the National Theater in Tokyo gave it a permanent home. In 1985 this home moved to its origin, Osaka, with the opening of the National Bunraku Theater. Currently there are four performances each a year in Tokyo and Osaka plus a yearly travelling show. Still, though audiences are important, the aging of the all- important backstage workers - head carvers, costume makers, etc. - and the lack of people to take their place poses an increasing problem for the future of this 300 year old art form.

Indonesia has a strong tradition of puppetry. In Java, wayang kulit, an elaborate form of shadow puppetry is very popular. Javanese rod puppets have a long history and are used to tell fables from Javanese history. 

The Javanese Wayang theater was influenced by Indian traditions. Europeans developed puppetry as a result of extensive contact with the Eastern World. Some scholars trace the origin of puppets to India 4000 years ago.

Wayang is an Indonesian word for theatre (literally "shadow"). When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theater, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang. Performances of shadow puppet theater are accompanied by gamelan in Java, and by "gender wayang" in Bali. 

Wayang kulit, shadow puppets prevalent in Java and Bali in Indonesia, are without a doubt the best known of the Indonesianwayang. Kulit means skin, and refers to the leather construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods. 

The stories are usually drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or the Serat Menak. 

The Wayang is a flat or round puppets used for shows in Java.The wayang kulit is the flat one and it is made with buffalo leather. They are maipulated behind a white screen with a back light, so the attendance can see them as shadow puppets. We were also introduced to other Wayang figures for Kancil’s play: mouse deer, mud puddle, tiger, snake (uncoiled and coiled), wasp nest, and wasp. 

Wayang is well integrated in Javanese society, and it is considered to be a highlight of Javanese culture. 

Wayang Kulit was already established in the East Javanese kingdoms one thousand years ago. 

The experience that I had with Indonesian Shadow Puppetry was very interesting and distinct. Sutrisno Hartana, the puppeteer, was very engaging. He and his family, composed by his wife and his two daughters, were literally a crew. While Sutrisno was performing, her daughters were ready to assist him and her wife was singing through the all performance.

The part I appreciated most was when he explained his job, generally the work of a puppeteer, in connection with the Java culture and tradition; he shared his culture with us. The way he explained this different topic was very simple, so easy to understand. Several times, I couldn’t find the connection between the different topics he was referring to; mostly because this shadow puppetry refers specifically to the Indonesian region, and in order to understand every single connection you first have to have a background on these topics.

Nevertheless, we all participated actively to his presentation by taking the role of the narrator, of different character, or of puppeteers, in short scenes.

I get to act the voice of a tiger, in a short story. It was actually fun, challenging and interesting. First of all, I noticed that, even if it seems easy, reproducing the voice of an animal is not always that easy; the work of the puppeteer on moving the puppets, telling the story and imitating completely different voice, is really hard. As Sutrisno, later explained to us, you need to train for a long time in order to be a good puppeteer and be able to improvise, as he can do. In his case, he was introduced to this culture since his childhood, since he was born in Java; but he later had to go to the University of Art in Java, in order to improve his skills a become a good puppeteers. Also the experience is something that makes the difference between a puppeteer and another.

Even if I kind of expected a more elevated form of shadow puppetry, in his performance, I like the fact that it was very energetic, passionate, and simple. By looking at the show from the puppeteer side, I noticed the fact that when Sutrisno was performing, he was not only a storyteller, but he also gave life to the puppets, embodying himself in them.

He introduced a story drawn from the Mahabharata, in a very funny way, sometimes (at the end of the performance), making some connection with the environment around him, Pearson College.

Perhaps what I find most attractive were the puppets, the Wayangs. They were really beautiful, stylish, distinct, and exotic. It was evident that there were made with thoroughness, looking particularly for aesthetic, combining beauty, skills, art and tradition.  

In ancient Greece and ancient 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, as it is done today in Sicilian puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of rods. Some researchers believe these ancient figures were simply toys and not puppets, due to their small size. 

Italy is considered by many to be the early home of the marionette due to the influence of Roman puppetry. The Christian church used marionettes to perform morality plays. Comedy was introduced to the plays as time went by, and ultimately led to a church edict banning puppetry. Puppeteers responded by setting up stages outside cathedrals and became even 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 and sometimes Shakespeare's plays were performed using marionettes instead of actors. 

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. In Sicilian this is called "Opira dî pupi", or "Opera of the puppets". The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî, or "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. 

The eighteenth century was a vital period in the development of all Italian theatre, including the marionette theatre. The rod puppet was mainly of lower-class origin, but the marionette theatre was popular in aristocratic circles, as a celebration of the Age of Enlightenment. The effects, and the artful and complex construction of the puppets, the puppet theatres, and the puppet narratives, were all popular, particularly in Venice. 

The traditional British Punch and Judy puppetry traces its roots to the 16th century to the Italian commedia dell'arte. The character of "Punch" derives from the character 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", but later became "Judy". In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the familiar Punch and Judy puppet show which existed in Britain was performed in an easily-transportable booth. 

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. Only during the French revolution were puppet booths closed. Those puppeteers who dared to take part in political criticism were imprisoned. In Russia, the Central Puppet Theatre in Moscow and its branches in every part of the country enhanced the reputation of the puppeteer and puppetry in general. 

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. The German version of the British character of 'Punch' is called Kasperle of Kaspar while Judy is called Grete. In the eighteenth century, operas were specifically composed for marionette puppets. 

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. Marionettes first appeared around the time of the Thirty Years' War. 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 a beautifully designed eighteenth century setting. Puppets have been used extensively in animated films since 1946. 

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. In the 19th century, puppetry faced competition from other forms of theatre such as vaudeville and music hall, but it 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. 

Sub-Saharan Africa may have inherited some of the puppet traditions of Ancient Egypt. 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 perfomance. 

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. 

We were also introduced to the Mali’s Puppetry by Hadi. 

A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object—a puppet—in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or her own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally. Some puppet styles require puppeteers to work together as a team to create a single puppet character. 

There are a wide range of styles of puppetry but whatever the style, the puppeteer's role is to manipulate the physical object in such a manner that the audience believes the object is imbued with life. In some instances the persona of the puppeteer is also an important feature. 

The relationship between the puppeteer and the puppet-maker is often assumed to be similar to that between an actor and a playwright. This may be so, but one of the characteristics of puppetry is that very often the puppeteer assumes the joint roles of puppet-maker, director,designer, writer and performer. In this case a puppeteer is a more complete theatre practitioner than is the case within other theatre forms. 

Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing, and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" one's voice. However, the term "throwing one's voice" is misleading, because it implies that a sound's physical origin has changed, when really the change has been perceptual and not physical.