Puppets and Puppetry

Above: Sea Odyssey by Royal de Luxe

Selected shows featuring Puppetry

Video

Books

2018

Puppetry: How To Do It
Buy at
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2015

Puppetry and Material Performance
Buy at
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2011

Puppetry: A Reader in Theatre Practice
Buy at
Amazon UK
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2011

The Horses Mouth: How Handspring and the National Theatre Made War Horse
Buy at
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2008

Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation
Buy at
Amazon UK
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2006

Puppet Planet
Buy at
Amazon UK
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2005

Puppetry and Puppets: An Illustrated World Survey
Buy at
Amazon UK
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2004

Puppet Mania!
Buy at
Amazon UK
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2001

Puppets, Masks and Performing Objects
Buy at
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1999

Puppets and Puppet Theatre
Buy at
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1985

Backstage at Bunraku
Buy at
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External Links

Associations

British Puppet & Model Theatre Guild Resources from the original puppetry organisation [UK]
Puppeteers UK Resources and information [UK]
UNIMA Union Internationale de la Marionette [France]

Makers

Animax Designs [Nashville, USA]
Axtell Expressions Puppets Ventriloquism Specialists [California, USA]
Chiodo Bros [Team America] [USA]
Darryl Worbey Studios [London, UK]
Entify Props, Puppets, Scenic [UK]
Hand to Mouth Puppet makers & performers [UK]
Images in Motion Media [CA, USA]
Jim Henson Company
Marionettes BG Handmade Wooden Marionettes [Bulgaria]
Paul Jomain Puppet Building, Design and Character Development [London, UK]
Purves Puppets & Biggar Puppet Theatre [Biggar, UK]

Practitioners

Amit Drori - Robot Puppeteer [Jerusalem]
Gyre and Gimble Puppet-permeated performance [UK]
Image Theatre Black Light puppet theatre [Prague, Czechslovakia]
La Machine Builders & Creators of Live Productions [France]
Royal De Luxe Street Theater / Giant Marionettes [France]
Tony Sinnett Professional Puppetmaker and Puppeteer [UK]

Resources

Puppet Centre Resources and advice [London, UK]
Puppetry Home Page Resource for the puppetry community [USA]

Research

Animations Online Magazine [UK]
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry [USA]
 History >> History of Puppetry (thanks to Madison) [USA]
 History >> History of Puppetry in Britain (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)
 History >> History of Puppets

Unions / Associations

PAM (Portail des Arts de la Marionette) [France]

Puppetry Terms


BAMBOO BLIND
Screen made of thin bamboo which is used at the rear of a Vietnamese Water Puppet stage (known as the Water House) so the puppeteers can see the puppets without the audience seeing them.

BLACK ART
Technique to bring objects to life against a black background, using black-clad performers.
Precise lighting of the object (puppets etc) only, with no light on the performers, ensures the illusion is flawless.
See also Ultraviolet.

BUNRAKU
Style of Japanese puppetry where the puppet operator carries the puppet onstage and is visible throughout the performance. The puppeteers are highly skilled and respected in Japan, and provide the voice as well as the movements for the incredibly detailed puppets.
About Bunraku

MARIONETTE
A string puppet. An object suspended and controlled from above by strings. The strings are connected to a control bar, held by a puppeteer. 

OLIO
1) (from Spain / Portugal - ollo a spicy stew consisting of different meats and vegetables)
A collection of different acts (e.g. comedy, songs, dance, puppetry), or an act which isn't part of the main show, inserted to fill a gap, to cover a scene change or as an encore after a dramatic play. Example usage: 'The event was an olio of poetry, dance and songs'.
2) An additional cloth in variety / movie theatres, between the audience and the movie screen, which was made of oil (olio) cloth, and known as the Olio, on which there were often painted ads for local businesses. Acts were performed in front of this before the movie played. 

OVERHEAD PROJECTOR (OHP)
Overhead Projector (OHP) - Nobo 2511 Desktop Projector Classroom projector commonly used before digital projection became affordable, where text or images printed or drawn/written on a horizontally-placed acetate (clear plastic) film can be projected via a lens and mirror onto a vertical wall or surface. Still used for shadow-puppetry in small-scale applications (where bright, clear images can be obtained from small puppets placed on the horizontal platform), and in scenic / prop applications where a line drawing printed onto acetate can be hugely enlarged to trace onto a large piece of scenery / cloth, hung vertically.

PLANT
1) One of the main characters in The Little Shop Of Horrors, a stage musical. The plant is named Audrey II, and there are (at least) 3 size variations on it during the course of the show, each of which needs to have various capabilities. Audrey II can be hired from scenic companies across the world. 
2) A member of the production team who is placed in the audience to take part in a key part of the show, while appearing to be a randomly selected member of the audience (also known as a STOOGE)

PUPPET
Information coming soon

ROD PUPPET
A puppet supported from a rod held by a puppeteer below the puppet. The rod is an integral part of the construction of the puppet and is usually part of the head. A glove / sleeve connected to the neck of the puppet, just below the head, forms the body of the puppet and hides the rod and the puppeteer's hand. Additional rods are used to control the puppet's arms.

Keywords: puppetry techniques, puppet techniques,