Marionette
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A marionette is a type of puppet controlled by a puppeteer from above with strings. Marionette puppets are found in box theatres, curtain theatres, and black light theatres.
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[edit] Origins
[edit] Ancient times
Puppets likely pre-date living actors as originators of theater. Egypt in 2000 BC had string-operated figures of wood that performed the action of kneading bread, and other string controlled automata. Wire controled, articulated puppets made of clay and ivory have been found in the tombs of ancient Egypt. Marionettes likely developed from the Egyptian automata and primitive puppet displays that originated from rituals and ceremonies performed using these string-operated figurines.
The Greeks left few physical examples of their puppetry but are known by their testimony in history and literature that puppet shows were important. The Greek word usually translated as "puppets" is neurospasta, which literally means "string-pulling", from nervus, meaning either sinew, tendon, muscle, string, or wire, and span, to pull. Aristotle referenced pulling strings to control heads, hands and eyes, shoulders and legs. Archimedes is known to have worked with marionettes. Plato's work is full of references to puppeteering. 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' were presented on the puppet stage.
In ancient Greece and 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, exactly as is done today in Sicily. A few of these dolls had strings in place of the rods. Some authorities give these ancient figures as mere toys and not puppets due to their small size, so their use as puppets is suspect[1].
The Indian word sutradhar(a) refers to the show-manager of theatrical performances (or a puppet-player), and also means literally "string-puller" or "string-holder".
[edit] Middle Ages and Renaissance
Italy is considered the native home of the marionette thanks to the influence of Roman puppetry and the Christian church's adoption of puppetry as a teaching method. It is believed that the word marionette actually originated from the little figures of the Virgin Mary[2]. Comedy snuck into the plays as time crept along and ultimately led to an edict banning puppetry from the church. Puppeteers responded by setting up stages outside cathedrals and became ever more ribald and slapstick.
Shakespeare's plays were performed as often by marionettes as by actors.
[edit] Marionettes in modern times
Marionette began to be simply referred to as "puppets" in the 1930's and 1940's[3].
With the rise in popularity of television and the movies marionettes found a rise in popularity especially in children's programming. The story of Pinocchio and its Disney adaptation ( 'Pinocchio' released in 1940 is a story about a marionette. In 1947 Howdy Doody introduced marionettes to Saturday morning television.
In the 1960s, British TV producer Gerry Anderson and colleagues pioneered the technique combining marionettes and electronic components, typically to control the marionettes' faces, which they named "supermarionation".
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[edit] Styles of marionettes
[edit] Sicilian marionettes
Sicilian marionettes are among the simplest marionettes to operate. Made by a sturdy rod which extends up from the head and by one string attached to the hand of the puppet.
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 theaters featuring hand-made marionettes of wood, this art is called Opira dî pupi (Opera of the puppets) in Sicilian. The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî (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. A great place to see this marionette art is the puppet theatres of Palermo, Sicily.
[edit] See also
- Bunraku - traditional Japanese puppet theater.
- Marionettes in pop-culture
- Mister Squiggle, Australian marionette
[edit] External links
- Virtual museum of the puppet and of the marionette
- Online gallery and resource of marionettes from the Czech Republic
- See a video on how marionettes are made
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/definitions/historical/chapter1.html
- ^ Marionettes: A Hobby for Everyone. Beaton, Mabel and Les, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, NY 1948.
- ^ The Complete Book of Puppetry, George Latshaw, Dover Publications (2000), ISBN 978-048640-952-8
