puppet making | Puppet Lady

Today (21st of March) is World Puppetry Day. You can read more about the origin of the day and special events that are being organised for it on the Unima website HERE.

If you are new to the World of Puppetry you might wonder what puppetry is for, or why it matters. Why use a puppet when you could get an actor? A person has a much wider range of facial expression than a puppet and: as Gerry Anderson (of Thunderbirds fame) discovered when he moved from puppetry to live actors, you can just tell the actor to go somewhere and pick something up and they can do it with minimal technical difficulties. Gerry always disliked the way the puppets that were made for his shows walked and in order to get maximum realism had his characters seated or shot from the waist up wherever possible.

A relaxing interlude for International Rescue (The Classic Thunderbirds exhibition by “Supermarionation Recreations” at Stone Puppet Festival)

The problem with using Gerry Anderson as an example is that although he and Sylvia Anderson (who made a massive contribution to “Supermarionation“) did a fantastic job and produced amazing work they never really wanted to work with puppets. They used them as a stepping stone to get a foot in the door of the TV production world and Gerry’s aim was always to produce TV shows with people. Because of this, their shows kept leaning further and further towards realism and realism is not generally where puppetry shines.

One way that a puppet outshines a human actor is that however good an actor they are, they are still someone pretending to be someone else and there are many famous actors who basically play themselves in every role. This is fine if the character is like them but it often jolts you out of the story if you are comparing them to their performance/appearance in other films, TV or stage shows that you have seen. A puppet is designed to BE the character and there are no physical limitations to overcome, no make-up or prosthetics needed to alter the actor’s appearance because you can make them EXACTLY how you want the character to be. They don’t go home at the end of the day and back to their real life. The puppet always IS the character.

This is particularly useful for magical/fantasy/science-fiction stories as a puppet can be a dragon, a robot, can fly, can transform from one thing to another. Shadow puppets in particular can easily perform tricks such as shrinking, growing or disappearing altogether.

One of the reasons I love making puppet shows is that they combine so many different elements and skills. There is the art of designing and making the puppets which are often beautiful showpieces in themselves. There is the movement of the puppet which tells the audience all about the character. A villain might move in a slinky, sneaky way, silent and secretive. A hero might be more upright and move confidently and boldly through the space. A cowardly character would move with trembling and hesitation and be able to shrink down and cower away from perceived threats. They are fantastic aid to storytelling and can tell stories without words or in addition to words so that those who have a visual preference or are D/deaf can follow what is happening. The fact that they are puppets also allows people to project their own thoughts, feelings and emotions onto the characters and everyone will have their own individual experience of the same show. Puppets with carved wooden features that do not move are often perceived by audience members to change expression through the puppeteers skill, use of lighting and the audiences own imagination, (which is not to be underestimated).

Marionettes from a production of “Beauty & the Beast” (Exhibited at Stone Puppet Festival)

Another reason I love the artform of puppetry is that anyone can make a puppet using cheap materials or even things that would otherwise be thrown away. The main limitation is your imagination and skill, (and skills can be learned and improved through doing and trying things out). A lot of my workshops making shadow puppets use cereal or pizza boxes as this is a perfect thickness to cut out and be sufficiently sturdy to work with. To make a show all you need is a puppet (or a hand if you want to do hand shadows) a light source and a screen (which could be a sheet pegged to a line) or a blank wall.

Puppetry can be less intimidating as an artform than some as anyone who has played with their toys at home and acted out different characters with them can bring a puppet to life. Obviously, specialised techniques and practice improve a performance but there is nothing wrong in simply enjoying playing with puppets and amusing yourself, your family and friends. Play, in itself, is hugely beneficial: educationally, emotionally and great to promote good mental health, confidence and creativity. And, lets not forget, creativity is beneficial not just of itself but is great for problem solving and helps with all subject areas in a curriculum and all kinds of careers in later life.

With so many councils downgrading or removing arts funding altogether and arts subjects and teachers disappearing from the curriculum at Primary, Secondary and Higher Education level an art form that is possible for people to have a go and create their own work themselves is increasingly important.

Puppetry is also able to give confidence and a voice to those who might otherwise be too shy to speak. A child can speak using the puppet’s voice without worrying about being judged and can even speak as the puppet without being seen themselves (if being looked at is a problem for them). For this reason puppetry is often very attractive for neurodiverse people and can also be used as an effective therapy tool in all sorts of settings.

A Lion from the “DaSilva Marionette Circus Troupe” performed by Noisy Oyster

If you want to learn where to start or learn the best techniques then the British Puppet Guild is a very open and inclusive group full of people who are very willing to share their expertise and have all sorts of events both online and in person. You don’t have to be a professional to join and there are members of all ages and abilities so there is no worry about whether you are “good enough” to join, beginners are welcome. Members get an annual magazine put together by the membership called “The Puppet Master” full of colour photos, interesting articles and sometimes instructions to make theatres or projects.

PuppeteersUK have a directory of professional puppeteers with a wealth of expertise in different areas which you can access to find out what puppeteers are available in your area for shows, workshops and events.

BrUnima is the British arm of UNIMA which unites puppeteers and puppet makers from around the world and they are worth checking out too particularly if you interested in finding out about different puppetry traditions from around the world. BrUNIMA produce The Puppet Notebook annually which is full of in depth articles from practitioners and academics usually around a theme.

If anyone knows the makers/puppet companies who produced the Beauty & the Beast marionettes in the photos which are uncredited from Stone Puppet Festival, (I think they are from Ian Denny and Glen Holden) feel free to mention them in the comments 🙂

As I mentioned in my previous post, the New Year is a good time to take stock, pause and reflect on your practice. While sorting my workspace recently, I came across some shadow puppets that I used for the British Puppet Guild Show & Tell event last year. These were from our very first Rough Magic Theatre show, The Tempest, based on William Shakespeare’s play.

Looking back at these early puppets is fascinating, because they clearly show the development of my practice. I’m still very proud of them — they worked extremely well for that show and for the way we were working at the time — but I can also see how much I’ve learned since then.

The process of making and using these puppets taught me a great deal: what reads clearly in silhouette, what works less well, and how different materials or jointing can have a big impact once a puppet is in performance.

As I often say in my shadow puppet making workshops, one of the great advantages of puppets over human actors is that the puppet is the character. It doesn’t need to adapt an existing appearance to fit a role — it can look like anything you imagine and do things that are impossible in real life.

Shadow puppetry adds a particular sense of magic to storytelling, and considering that The Tempest is a play filled with magical characters and events, it felt like a natural fit. That same quality is something I continue to explore in newer work, including our current show Fairytales of Wit, Wisdom & Witchcraft, which is booking from late Spring this year.

You can also see in the video below how different the puppets feel in performance compared with the inanimate, behind-the-scenes view. From the audience’s perspective, it isn’t the puppets themselves that are seen, but light and shadow on the screen.

Shadow images can be made to shrink, grow, appear, disappear and distort through the relationship between light, screen and object — not to mention the possibilities created by multiple light sources and coloured gels. It’s this interplay of technique, imagination and illusion that continues to draw me back to shadow puppetry again and again.

Below is a short video showing photographs of the puppets themselves, followed by the shadows in action. I used both a wall and a pop-up tent to make these quick demonstrations. They show how even simple puppets made from card can withstand many years of repeated use — these particular puppets are around 25 years old.