Puppets and Puppet Theatre E-Book

David Currell

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Puppets & Puppet Theatre is essential reading for everyone interested in making and performing with puppets. It concentrates on designing, making and performing with the main types of puppet, and is extensively illustrated in full colour throughout.Topics covered include: nature and heritage of puppet theatre; the anatomy of a puppet, its design and structure; materials and methods for sculpting, modelling and casting; step-by-step instructions for making glove, hand, rod and shadow puppets & marionettes; puppet control and manipulation; staging principles, stage and scenery design; principles of sound & lighting and finally, organisation of a show.

Leseprobe

PUPPETS AND PUPPET THEATRE

David Currell

First published in 1999 by The Crowood Press Ltd Ramsbury, Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2014

© David Currell 1999

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 790 8

To Emily Ayşa and Alexander Emre, my children, who love puppet theatre.

Photo Credits

Courtesy John M. Blundall, Puppet Theatre Consultant, The Scottish Mask and Puppet Theatre Centre, Glasgow: 35, 136 (a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f), 169 (a)(b)(c); courtesy Coomber Electronic Equipment Ltd, Worcester: 196 (a)(b)(c); courtesy Ray & Joan DaSilva, DaSilva Puppet Company, Bicester, Oxfordshire: 165 (b), 202, 206; courtesy Mary Edwards, The Puppet Factory Ltd., Far Forest, Worcestershire: 4, 42, 43; Steve Finch, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (Hogarth Collection) and Salford Museum & Art Gallery: 38; Steve Finch, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (on loan to touring exhibition, courtesy Jim Henson Productions) and Salford Museum & Art Gallery: 6; Chris Lawrenson, courtesy Lyndie Wright, Little Angel Theatre, London: 182, 203; Philippe Mangen, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (on loan to touring exhibition, courtesy John Blundall, Scottish Mask & Puppet Theatre Centre): 10, 39; courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (Crafts Council Collection): 36; courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (Jessica Souhami Archive): 128 (b); courtesy Ian Purves, International Purves Puppets, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland: 195 (a)(b); John Roberts, courtesy Lyndie Wright, Little Angel Theatre, London: 99; David Rose, author’s collection: 5, 9, 32, 37, 52, 59, 79, 110 (b)(c)(d), 138 (a)(b), 140 (e), 153 (c)(d)(e), 190 (a), 117, 118, 119, 120, 130, 133, 186, 188, 189; David Rose, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London: 16, 19 (a)(b), 69; David Rose, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (Barry Smith Collection): 7, 21, 22, 27, 33, 53, 58; David Rose, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (Crafts Council Collection): 15; David Rose, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (Hogarth Collection): 1, 2, 3, 17, 103; courtesy Albrecht Roser, Stuttgart, Germany: 198; Stephen Sharples, courtesy Christopher Leith, London: 128 (a); Stephen Sharples, courtesy Lyndie Wright, Little Angel Theatre, London: 44; Barry Smith, author’s photograph collection: 26, 165 (a), 201; Barry Smith, courtesy Puppet Centre Trust, London (Barry Smith Collection): 11, 13, 68, 171, 172; David Stanfield, courtesy Lyndie Wright, Little Angel Theatre, London: 8, 46, 61, 62, 65, 102, 200; courtesy Strand Lighting Ltd., Middlesex: 187 (a)(b)(c)(d), 192, 194 (a)(b); courtesy Lyndie Wright, Little Angel Theatre, London: 47, 123, 124, 191, 199, 205; courtesy Zero 88 Lighting Ltd., Cwmbran, Gwent: 193.

Contents

1 An Introduction to Puppet Theatre

Puppet Theatre Heritage

The Nature of the Puppet

Types of Puppet and Staging

Using This Book

2 The Anatomy of a Puppet

Principles of Design

Proportion and Design

Puppet Structure

Glove Puppets

Hand Puppets

Rod Puppets

Animal Rod Puppets

Bunraku-Style Rod Puppets

Hand-Rod Puppets

Rod-Hand Puppets

Rod-Glove Puppets

Rod-Marionettes

Marionettes

Animal Marionettes

3 Heads – Materials and Methods

Tools

Exploring Materials

Sculpting

General Principles

Foam Rubber

Polystyrene

Expanding Foam Filler

Wood

Modelling

General Principles

Paste and Paper

Paper Pulp

Plaster and Muslin

Milliput (Epoxy Putty)

Fibreglass

Casting

General Principles

Making a Plaster Cast

Casting a Rigid Head

Casting a Latex-Rubber Head

Painting and Finishing Head, Hands and Feet

Principles for Painting the Face

Materials and Methods

Hair

4 Construction Techniques

Heads

Necks and Neck Joints

Eyes

Moving Mouths

Bodies for Glove and Hand Puppets

Rod Puppet Shoulder Blocks

Bodies for Rod Puppets and Marionettes

Waist Joints

Arms, Elbows and Shoulder Joints

Hands and Wrist Joints

Legs and Knee Joints

Hip Joints

Feet and Ankle Joints

Costume

5 Control and Manipulation

Glove and Hand Puppets

Rod Puppet Controls

Rod Puppet Manipulation

Marionette Controls

Marionette Manipulation

6 The Shadow Puppet

Principles

Construction

Simple Shadow Puppets

Articulated Shadow Puppets

Decoration and Colour

Three-Dimensional Puppets

Tricks and Transformations

Full-Colour Puppets in the Traditional Style

Control

Principles

Methods of Fixing Main Controls

Controlling Moving Heads and Mouths

Arm Controls

Leg Control

7 Staging Techniques

Staging Principles

General Staging Structures

Simple Staging: A Table-Top Theatre

Flexible Staging Units

Stages and Scenery for Glove, Hand and Rod Puppets

An Open Booth

A Proscenium Booth

Accessories

Scenery

Stages and Scenery for Marionettes

Staging

Accessories for Marionette Stages

Scenery

Staging for Mixed Puppet Productions

Curtains and Backcloths

Drapes for the Stage

Proscenium Curtains

Backcloths and Back-Screens

Staging for Shadow Puppets

Stage Construction

The Screen

Scenery

8 Lighting and Sound

Lighting the Puppet Theatre

Different Types of Lighting

Lighting for Glove and Rod Puppets

Lighting for Marionettes

Lighting for Shadow Puppets

Lighting Control

Colour Lighting

Organizing the Lighting

Lighting Equipment

Black Light Technique

Sound

Principles

Microphones

Sound Systems

9 The Performance

Essential Considerations

Variety Shows

Plays

Principles for Adapting a Story

The Scenario and Script

Design and Construction

Music for the Show

Voice Work and Recording Technique

Manipulation and Movement

Rehearsal

The Performance

Useful Addresses

Index

Acknowledgements

Puppeteers world-wide are generous in sharing their knowledge, skills and experience, and I have been extremely fortunate to benefit from this generosity in the preparation of Puppets and Puppet Theatre.

For information on their approaches to puppet making and performing, as well as for photographs, I am indebted to John Blundall, Ray DaSilva, Mary Edwards, Geoff Felix, Christopher Leith, Ian Purves and Lyndie Wright. Technical information on lighting and sound has been received from Sue Davies and Bill Richards of Strand Lighting Limited, Claire House of Zero 88 Lighting Limited, and Mark Piatkowski of Coomber Electronic Equipment Limited. Others who have contributed photographs are listed separately.

My very sincere thanks are due to David Rose, a friend, colleague, and photographer, who has been extremely generous with his time and expertise, and has made it possible to include so many colourful and informative photographs.

I am grateful also to Loretta Howells (Director), Allyson Kirk and Glen Alexander of the Puppet Centre Trust, London, who have provided reference resources, technical information and photographs, and made available the Trust’s extensive collections for photography.

The late Barry Smith, Director of the Theatre of Puppets and Ray DaSilva, Co-Director of the DaSilva Puppet Company, shared their individual approaches to puppet performance for a previous book, which is embedded also in the present work. I therefore acknowledge with gratitude the major contributions made to the performance chapter by each of these puppet masters.

Finally, I am extremely grateful to the team at The Crowood Press, who have been enthusiastic and supportive, and helped to make the book a pleasure to write.

A marionette carved by John Wright, The Little Angel Theatre, London

1 An Introduction to Puppet Theatre

PUPPET THEATRE HERITAGE

Puppetry and puppet theatre have a long and fascinating heritage. The origins of this visual and dramatic art are thought to lie mainly in the East, although exactly when or where it originated is not known. It may have been practised in India 4000 years ago: impersonation was forbidden by religious taboo and the leading player in Sanskrit plays is termed sutradhara (‘the holder of strings’), so it is likely that puppets existed before human actors.

Fig 1 Javanese wayang golek rod puppets

In China, marionettes were in use by the eighth century AD and shadow puppets date back well over 1000 years. The Burmese puppet theatre had a significant influence on the development of the human dance drama, and a dancer’s skill is still judged on his or her ability to re-create the movements of a marionette. And Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1725), Japan’s finest dramatist, wrote not for human theatre, but for the Bunraku puppets (see Fig 24), which once overshadowed the Kabuki in popularity.

Fig 2 An Indian marionette from the Rajasthan region

Fig 3 A traditional carved Burmese marionette

In Europe, the puppet drama flourished in the early Mediterranean civilizations and under Roman rule. The Greeks may have used puppets as early as 800 BC, and puppet theatre was a common entertainment – probably with marionettes and glove puppets – in Greece and Rome by 400 BC, according to the writings of the time. In the Middle Ages, puppets were widely used to enact the scriptures until they were banned by the Council of Trent. Since the Renaissance, puppetry in Europe has continued as an unbroken tradition.

Sicilian puppets – knights one metre (three feet) high, wearing beaten armour and operated from above with rods (see Fig 32) – have performed the story of Orlando Furioso since the sixteenth century, but this type of puppet was, in fact, in use as long ago as Roman times. In Germany, puppets have performed The History of Doctor Faustus since 1587, and in France marionette operas became so popular that in 1720 the live opera attempted to have them restricted by law. The eighteenth-century French Ombres Chinoises shadow puppets were not only a fairground entertainment but were popular among artists and in the fashionable world.

In England, puppets were certainly known by the fourteenth century and, during the Civil War, when theatres were closed, puppet theatre enjoyed a period of unsurpassed popularity. By the early eighteenth century it was a fashionable entertainment for the wealthy, and in the late nineteenth century England’s marionette troupes, considered to be the best in the world, toured the globe with their elaborate productions.

The ubiquitous Mr Punch originated in Italy. A puppet version of Pulcinella, a buffoon in the Italian Commedia dell’ Arte, was carried throughout Europe by the wandering showmen and a similar character – including Petruschka (Russia), Pickle Herring, later Jan Klaasen (Holland), and Polichinelle (France) – became established in many countries. The French version was introduced to England in 1660 with the return of Charles II; it became Punchinello, soon shortened to Punch, and enjoyed such popularity that he began to be included in all manner of plays. By 1825, Punch was at the height of his popularity, and the story in which he played had taken on its standard basic form.

In the nineteenth century the puppet show was taken to America by emigrants from many European countries, and their various national traditions laid the foundations for the great variety of styles found there today.

Eastern Europe had early traditions of travelling puppet-showmen but, with a few exceptions, puppetry did not develop significantly there until the twentieth century. However, it then progressed at an impressive rate.

The twentieth century has brought new materials and techniques to puppet theatre, and has seen a revival of interest in the art through television and film, as well as a renewed emphasis on the quality of live performances. Official recognition of puppetry as a performance art has now been achieved.

THE NATURE OF THE PUPPET

The survival of puppet theatre over some 4000 years owes a great deal to man’s fascination with the inanimate object animated in a dramatic manner, and to the very special way in which puppet theatre involves its audience. Through the merest hint or suggestion in a movement – perhaps just a tilt of the head – the spectator is invited to invest the puppet with emotion and movement, and to see it ‘breathe’.

A puppet is not an actor, and puppet theatre is not human theatre in miniature. In many ways, puppet theatre has more in common with dance and mime than with acting. Puppet theatre depends more upon action and less upon the spoken word than the actor does; generally, it cannot handle complex soul-searching, and it is denied many of the aspects of non-verbal communication that are available to the actor. But the puppet, still or moving, can be just as powerful as the actor.

The actor represents but the puppet is. The puppet brings to the performance just what you want and no more; it has no identity outside its performance, and brings no other associations on to the stage. The puppet is free from many human physical limitations and can speak the unspeakable, and deal with taboos. The power and potential of the puppet has attracted artists such as Molière, Cocteau, Klee, Shaw, Mozart, Gordon Craig, Goethe and Lorca who have all taken a serious interest in this art – one of the most liberating forms of theatre.

Fig 4 Pulcinella, a large marionette, as he first appeared in England, re-created for television by Mary Edwards. The head is carved in jelutong wood

TYPES OF PUPPET AND STAGING

Most types of puppet in use today fall into four broad categories – hand or glove puppets, rod puppets, marionettes and shadow puppets – but there is a variety of combinations. Among these are glove-rod, hand-rod, rod-hand and rod-marionette puppets, detailed in Chapter 2. There is also a wide range of other related techniques, from masks to finger puppets, from the toy theatre to animated puppet film.

The glove puppet is used like a glove on the operator’s hand; the term ‘hand puppet’ is sometimes used synonymously but here it describes figures where the whole hand is inserted into the puppet’s head. Glove puppets are quite simple in structure but hand puppets often have a costumed human hand, or arms and hands operated by rods. These puppets, although limited in gesture to the movement of one’s hand, are ideal for quick, robust action and can be most expressive. The live hand inside the puppet gives it a unique flexibility of physique.

The rod puppet is held and moved by rods, usually from below but sometimes from above; those in the Japanese Bunraku style require two or three operators, who hold the puppet in front of them. Rod puppets vary in complexity, ranging from a simple shape supported on a single stick to a fully articulated figure. They offer potential for creativity in design and presentation, and their range of swift and subtle movements enables them to deliver anything from sketches to large dramatic pieces.

The marionette is a puppet on strings, suspended from a control held by the puppeteer. It is versatile and can be simple or complex in both construction and control. Performances can be graceful and charming, and fast and forceful action is generally avoided. For manipulation, the experienced puppeteer draws upon the marionette’s natural movements to great advantage.

Shadow puppets are normally flat cut-out figures held against a translucent, illuminated screen. The term is also used loosely to describe fullcolour, translucent figures operated in the same manner. Shadow puppets are ideally suited to the illustration of a narrated story, but they can also handle direct dialogue and vigorous knockabout action.

Increasingly, puppeteers are exploring the use of space instead of restricting themselves to the confines of the conventional booth or stage. However, glove and rod puppets are usually presented from within a booth. The traditional covered booth is still used for ‘Punch and Judy’, but an open booth without a proscenium has become popular for other shows; it affords far greater scope for performance, and a wider viewing angle.

Marionette variety acts are frequently presented on an open stage with the puppeteer in view. The large marionette stage with a proscenium to hide the operators tends to be used for plays in more permanent situations: size, portability and setting-up time are factors that have influenced the trend towards open-stage performances. Although shadow puppets are generally limited to performing against a translucent screen, a great deal of ingenuity has been displayed by performers in their use of multiple screens, projections, superimposed images and the like.

Fig 5 A Chinese style of glove puppet

Fig 6 Oscar the Grouch, a hand puppet designed and made by Don Sahlin for Sesame Street. It is made of foam, covered in fleece and synthetic fur fabric

Fig 7 Joseph, from the Nativity, a carved wooden rod puppet of unknown origin

Fig 8 Aunt Rebecca, designed and carved by John Wright for A Trumpet for Nap, the Little Angel Theatre

Fig 9 Chinese shadow puppets created in leather, which is treated to make it translucent and coloured with dyes

It is possible to combine or alternate the use of different types of puppet in one performance. Used with other puppets, shadow play can illustrate linking narrative, portray distant action and, for example, dream, memory and underwater sequences. However, the staging demands of some puppet combinations can be considerable.

USING THIS BOOK

This book covers fundamental principles of puppet anatomy and design, extensive details of puppet construction and every aspect of the performance, including staging, lighting and sound.

Many aspects of the design and construction of the puppet are interdependent. For example, decisions about the performance will affect the type of puppet and staging methods to be used, and a head cannot be made for a rod puppet or marionette until it has been decided how the neck is to be joined to the body or whether the neck is to be created separate from, or integral to, the head. It is important, therefore, to design and make the puppet according to the advice given in all of the chapters; try to resist the temptation to launch into making a puppet with little idea of what the puppet will be required to do. Time spent reading and planning will be a worthwhile investment.

2 The Anatomy of a Puppet

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

The puppet is both an essence and an emphasis of the character it is intended to reflect. The puppet artist has to create and interpret character, not imitate it, so the puppeteer’s art involves simplification and selection, and offers freedom not only to design the costumes of the actors, but also to create their heads, faces, body shapes, and so on.