The Puppet Theatre Has Not Lost Its Charm Even Today

By Author: Stuart Swift
Total Articles: 25
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Anyone can simply define a puppet as an object which is manipulated by someone. But, the history of the introduction of the puppet in this world is not as simple as it sounds. It is lengthy and varied one. Though, they are basically meant for providing fun and entertainment to the children, but in reality it has been observed that a lot of aged persons are attracted towards the puppet shows. The history of this object will certainly make you understand the importance of its contribution towards making all of us laugh.

Puppetry was born in India about a thousand years ago before the birth of Jesus Christ. In this country, the two great epics – The Ramayana and The Mahabharata – are narrated with the help of puppets even today. It is a great folk art in India. A great number of stick puppets are used to play these epics. The shows narrated some sacred and popular texts. But, there is a great deal of real element in them. The performances are full of excitement. The tradition of puppetry is being continued by the people of Indonesia. The walang puppets are very popular there. The shows there are introduced with ...
... a noble speech from a holy person and are dealt with a particular degree of gravity.

Many reasons are there behind the development of this art. After the invention of this object there have been many adoptions and changes which have enriched this art. One example is Bunraku puppets which are extremely impressive and large Japanese puppets. They are playing like human actors on the stage. There is a story behind the advent of puppets. A famous playwright became tired of listening to the demands of the actors for enlarging their roles. To negate those demands he arranged shows with wood puppets. For making an effective performance of deeply touching love stories and historical dramas the art turned to be highly complicated and refined.

The puppets are equally popular almost all countries of the world. They are made to act out morality plays. In the 18th century the puppetry progressed heavily in Italy. Then a good number of serious plays were performed in this method. In the 19th century about 8 strings were added to the puppets instead of two strings. The additional controlling power provided the puppets a wide tract of movement as well as believability to a great extent. In the nineteenth century the puppet theatre was separated from human theatre. Then the puppeteers took their seats as buskers and wanderers, sharing the same social stature as jugglers, foreigners, and gypsies.

Even at the initial part of the nineteenth century, some people praised puppetry as a finer art. There were debates about the acceptability of the puppets over real human actors. A person, named Heinrich von Kleist, wrote an essay, “On the Marionette Theatre”. There the puppets used to get acclaim as being less self-conscious than humans. Thus, we get a little glimpse over the history of puppets. It always keeps a well rhythm with the changing times.

The puppet shop is an exciting place to get experience about marionette puppets. For arranging a highly overwhelming puppet theatre you can definitely trust over them.