Misplaced Pages

#305694

125-509: Little Angel Theatre is a puppet theatre for children and their families based in the London Borough of Islington . The 100-seat theatre, a former Temperance hall, was opened on 24 November 1961, by founders John and Lyndie Wright with a performance of The Wild Night Of The Witches . As well as an internationally recognised theatre with productions touring throughout the UK and across

250-670: A pre-Indo-European language. One German author claims the word "mask" is originally derived from the Spanish más que la cara (literally, "more than the face" or "added face"), which evolved to "máscara", while the Arabic "maskharat" – referring to the buffoonery which is possible only by disguising the face – would be based on these Spanish roots. Other related forms are Hebrew masecha = "mask"; Arabic maskhara مَسْخَرَ = "he ridiculed, he mocked", masakha مَسَخَ = "he transfomed" ( transitive ). The use of masks in rituals or ceremonies

375-525: A catalyst for social and psychological change in transformative arts . Puppetry is a very ancient art form, thought to have originated about 4000 years ago. Puppets have been used since the earliest times to animate and communicate the ideas and needs of human societies. Some historians claim that they pre-date actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BCE when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to perform

500-470: A central feature of Indian dramatic forms, many based on depicting the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana . Countries that have had strong Indian cultural influences – Cambodia , Burma , Indonesia , Thailand , and Lao – have developed the Indian forms, combined with local myths, and developed their own characteristic styles. The masks are usually highly exaggerated and formalised, and share an aesthetic with

625-535: A character borrowed from the Italian commedia dell'arte . By 1804 the success was such that he gave up dentistry altogether and became a professional puppeteer, creating his own scenarios drawing on the concerns of his working-class audience and improvising references to the news of the day. He developed characters closer to the daily lives of his Lyon audience, first Gnafron, a wine-loving cobbler, and in 1808 Guignol. Other characters, including Guignol's wife Madelon and

750-561: A face was found that is approximately 35,000 years old, but it is not clear whether it was intended as a mask. In the Greek bacchanalia and the Dionysus cult, which involved the use of masks, the ordinary controls on behaviour were temporarily suspended, and people cavorted in merry revelry outside their ordinary rank or status. René Guénon claims that in the Roman saturnalia festivals,

875-562: A folk tradition. The importance of Marathi artists is evidenced, states Blackburn, from the puppeteers speaking Marathi as their mother tongue in many non-Marathi speaking states of India. According to Beth Osnes, the tholu bommalata shadow puppet theatre dates back to the 3rd century BCE, and has attracted patronage ever since. The puppets used in a tholu bommalata performance, states Phyllis Dircks, are "translucent, lusciously multicolored leather figures four to five feet tall, and feature one or two articulated arms". The process of making

1000-462: A great variety of shapes, depending on their precise function. Pueblo craftsmen produced impressive work for masked religious ritual, especially the Hopi and Zuni . The kachinas (gods and spirits) frequently take the form of highly distinctive and elaborate masks that are used in ritual dances. These are usually made of leather with appendages of fur, feathers, or leaves. Some cover the face, some

1125-665: A hundred, paraded through town during the Higantes Festival . These puppets are made as a devotion to San Clemente and as a mockery against colonial-era land owners who discriminated Filipinos. Various traditions are connected with the higantes . Since the 20th century, multiple puppet arts have developed in the Philippines. A notable Filipino puppeteer is Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio . In Burma , today called Myanmar, an elaborate form of puppet shows, called Yoke thé , evolved, based on royal patronage. The probable date of

1250-522: A long tradition of puppetry. In the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata there are references to puppets. Another ancient reference to puppetry is found in Tamil classic ‘Silappadikaaram’ written around 1st or 2nd century B.C. Kathputli , a form of string puppet performance native to Rajasthan , is notable and there are many Indian ventriloquists and puppeteers. The first Indian ventriloquist, Professor Y. K. Padhye , introduced this form of puppetry to India in

1375-691: A major role in shadow play theatre in most parts of India, except in Kerala and Maharashtra. Almost everywhere, except Odisha, the puppets are made from tanned deer skin, painted and articulated. Translucent leather puppets are typical in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, while opaque puppets are typical in Kerala and Odisha. The artist troupes typically carry over a hundred puppets for their performance in rural India. Rod puppets are an extension of glove-puppets, but are often much larger and supported and manipulated by rods from below. This form of puppetry now

SECTION 10

#1732772261306

1500-456: A mask to conceal one's identity are suspended for the day. Distinctive styles of masks began to emerge in pre-Hispanic America about 1200 BC, although there is evidence of far older mask forms. In the Andes , masks were used to dress the faces of the dead. These were originally made of fabric, but later burial masks were sometimes made of beaten copper or gold , and occasionally of clay . For

1625-551: A master carver – frequently it is a tradition that has been passed down within a family through many generations. Such an artist holds a respected position in tribal society because of the work that he or she creates, embodying not only complex craft techniques but also spiritual/social and symbolic knowledge. African masks are also used in the Mas or Masquerade of the Caribbean Carnival . Djolé (also known as Jolé or Yolé)

1750-399: A narrow chin. The raised strip running from both sides of the nose to the ears represent jewellery. Dark black hairstyle, tops the mask off. The whiteness of the face represents the whiteness and beauty of the spirit world. Only men wear the masks and perform the dances with high stilts despite the fact that the masks represent women. One of the most beautiful representations of female beauty is

1875-411: A number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer. Rod puppets are made from a head attached to a central rod. Over the rod is a body form with arms attached controlled by separate rods. They have more movement possibilities as a consequence than a simple hand or glove puppet. Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which was first recorded in

2000-487: A protective role to the members of a society who use their powers. Biologist Jeremy Griffith has suggested that ritual masks, as representations of the human face, are extremely revealing of the two fundamental aspects of the human psychological condition: firstly, the repression of a cooperative, instinctive self or soul; and secondly, the extremely angry state of the unjustly condemned conscious thinking egocentric intellect. In parts of Australia, giant totem masks cover

2125-639: A puppet show within a castelet (shown right) illustrates fol. 54v of Li romans du boin roi Alixandre ('The Romance of the Good King Alexander'), a Flemish manuscript illuminated by the workshop of Jehan de Grise between 1338 and 1344. In Sicily , 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 theatres featuring hand-made marionettes of wood. In Sicilian this

2250-411: A ritual context in that it was performed at religious or rites of passage such as days of naming, circumcisions, and marriages. Over time, some of these contextual ritual enactments became divorced from their religious meaning and they were performed throughout the year. Some 2500 years ago, kings and commoners alike were entertained by dance and mime accompanied by music where the dancers often wore masks,

2375-568: A single finger, and sock puppets , which are formed from a sock and operated by inserting one's hand inside the sock, with the opening and closing of the hand simulating the movement of the puppet's "mouth". A hand puppet or glove puppet is controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet and moves the puppet around. Punch and Judy puppets are familiar examples. Other hand or glove puppets are larger and require two puppeteers for each puppet. Japanese Bunraku puppets are an example of this. Marionettes are suspended and controlled by

2500-671: A stick, achieving minimum animation in both cases. Puppets are described in the epic Mahabharata , Tamil literature from the Sangam era , and various literary works dating from the late centuries BC to the early centuries AD, including the Edicts of Ashoka . Works like the Natya Shastra and the Kama Sutra elaborate on puppetry in some detail. China has a history of puppetry dating back 3000 years, originally in pi-yung xi ,

2625-494: A useful basis for categorisation. The image of juxtaposed comedy and tragedy masks are widely used to represent the performing arts, and specifically drama . In many dramatic traditions including the theatre of ancient Greece , the classical noh drama of Japan (14th century to present), the traditional lhamo drama of Tibet , talchum in Korea, and the topeng dance of Indonesia , masks were or are typically worn by all

SECTION 20

#1732772261306

2750-409: A very old and highly sophisticated and stylized theatrical tradition. Although the roots are in prehistoric myths and cults, they have developed into refined art forms. The oldest masks are the gigaku . The form no longer exists, and was probably a type of dance presentation. The bugaku developed from this – a complex dance-drama that used masks with moveable jaws. The nō or noh mask evolved from

2875-530: A vestige of an earlier era when such dances were enacted as religious rites. According to George Goyan , this practice evoked that of Roman funeral rites where masked actor-dancers represented the deceased with motions and gestures mimicking those of the deceased while singing the praise of their lives (see Masks in Performance above). The oldest representations of masks in Europe are animal masks, such as

3000-536: A wide range of styles and approaches. There are also a number of British theatre companies, including Horse and Bamboo Theatre , and Green Ginger , which integrate puppetry into highly visual productions. From 1984 to 1996, puppetry was used as a vehicle for political satire in the British television series Spitting Image . Puppetry has also been influencing mainstream theatre, and several recent productions combine puppetry with live action, including Warhorse , at

3125-403: A wide variety of participation activities. Little Angel Theatre is a registered charity. Puppet theatre There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction. The simplest puppets are finger puppets , which are tiny puppets that fit onto

3250-535: Is a manifestation of the Lord of Misrule and Trickster , figures of deep-rooted mythologies. Punch's wife was originally "Joan", but later became "Judy". In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the familiar Punch and Judy puppet show which existed in Britain was performed in an easily transportable booth . The British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild in the early 20th century instigated a resurgence of puppetry. Two of

3375-629: Is a mask-dance from Temine people in Sierra Leone. Males wear the mask, although it does depict a female. Many African masks represent animals. Some African tribes believe that the animal masks can help them communicate with the spirits who live in forests or open savannas. People of Burkina Faso known as the Bwa and Nuna call to the spirit to stop destruction. The Dogon of Mali have complex religions that also have animal masks. Their three main cults use seventy-eight different types of masks. Most of

3500-525: Is a strong tradition of puppetry native to Indonesia , especially in Java and Bali . In Java, wayang kulit , an elaborate form of shadow puppetry, is very popular. Javanese rod puppets have a long history and are used to tell fables from Javanese history. Another popular puppetry form in Indonesia is wayang golek . Thailand has hun krabok , a popular form of rod puppet theatre. Vietnam developed

3625-407: Is a very ancient human practice across the world, although masks can also be worn for protection, in hunting, in sports, in feasts, or in wars – or simply used as ornamentation. Some ceremonial or decorative masks were not designed to be worn. Although the religious use of masks has waned, masks are used sometimes in drama therapy or psychotherapy. One of the challenges in anthropology is finding

3750-590: Is also a marionette theatre at Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna founded by Christine Hierzer-Riedler and Werner Hierzer over 40 years ago. The marionette theatre performs world famous operas, musicals and fairy tales. Marionette puppet theatre has had a very long history in entertainment in Prague , and elsewhere in the former Czechoslovakia and then in the Czech Republic and Slovakia . It can be traced deep into

3875-509: Is also found in pictorial traditions in India, such as temple mural painting, loose-leaf folio paintings, and the narrative paintings. Dance forms such as the Chhau of Odisha literally mean "shadow". The shadow theatre dance drama theatre are usually performed on platform stages attached to Hindu temples , and in some regions these are called Koothu Madams or Koothambalams . In many regions,

Little Angel Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue

4000-400: Is an object normally worn on the face , typically for protection , disguise , performance , or entertainment , and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, as well as in the performing arts and for entertainment. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on

4125-612: Is believed that the use of masks is related to the cult of the ancestors, which considered dancers the interpreters of the gods. Native Indonesian tribes such as Dayak have masked Hudoq dance that represents nature spirits. In Java and Bali , masked dance is commonly called topeng and demonstrated Hindu influences as it often feature epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata . The native story of Panji also popular in topeng masked dance. Indonesian topeng dance styles are widely distributed, such as topeng Bali, Cirebon, Betawi, Malang, Yogyakarta, and Solo. Japanese masks are part of

4250-642: Is believed that the word marionette originates from the little figures of the Virgin Mary , hence the word "marionette" or "Mary doll. Comedy was introduced to the plays as time went by, and ultimately led to a church edict banning puppetry. Puppeteers responded by setting up stages outside cathedrals and became even more ribald and slapstick . Out of this grew the Italian comedy called Commedia dell'arte . Puppets were used at times in this form of theatre and sometimes Shakespeare 's plays were performed using marionettes instead of actors. An early depiction of

4375-518: Is believed to have taught man the secrets of agriculture. Although the Dogons and Bamana people both believe the antelope symbolises agriculture, they interpret elements the masks differently. To the Bamana people, swords represent the sprouting of grain. Masks may also indicate a culture's ideal of feminine beauty. The masks of Punu of Gabon have highly arched eyebrows, almost almond-shaped eyes and

4500-600: Is called " Opera dei pupi ", or "Opera of the puppets". The "Opera dei pupi" and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorie, the word for storyteller, 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. The 18th century was a vital period in the development of all Italian theatre , including the marionette theatre. The rod puppet

4625-460: Is circa 30,000–40,000 years old. The use of masks is demonstrated graphically at some of these sites. Insofar as masks involved the use of war-paint, leather, vegetative material, or wooden material, such masks failed to be preserved, however, they are visible in paleolithic cave drawings, of which dozens have been preserved. At the neanderthal Roche-Cotard site in France, a flintstone likeness of

4750-492: Is found mostly in West Bengal and Orissa . The traditional rod puppet form of West Bengal is known as Putul Nautch . They are carved from wood and follow the various artistic styles of a particular region. The traditional rod puppet of Bihar is known as Yampuri . Glove puppets are also known as sleeve, hand or palm puppets. The head is made of either papier mâché , cloth or wood, with two hands emerging from just below

4875-746: Is influenced by the Islamic culture. Karagoz , the Turkish Shadow Theatre, has widely influenced puppetry in the region and it is thought to have passed from China by way of India. Later, it was taken by the Mongols from the Chinese and passed to the Turkish peoples of Central Asia. The art of Shadow Theater was brought to Anatolia by the Turkish people emigrating from Central Asia. Other scholars claim that shadow theater came to Anatolia in

5000-635: Is normally a part of a costume that adorns the whole body and embodies a tradition important to the religious and/or social life of the community as whole or a particular group within the community. Masks are used almost universally and maintain their power and mystery both for their wearers and their audience. The continued popularity of wearing masks at carnival , and for children at parties and for festivals such as Halloween are good examples. Nowadays these are usually mass-produced plastic masks, often associated with popular films , television programmes, or cartoon characters – they are, however, reminders of

5125-404: Is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Arabic maskharah مَسْخَرَۃٌ "buffoon", from the verb sakhira "to ridicule". However, it may also come from Provençal mascarar "to black (the face)" (or the related Catalan mascarar , Old French mascurer ). This in turn is of uncertain origin – perhaps from a Germanic source akin to English "mesh", but perhaps from mask- "black", a borrowing from

Little Angel Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue

5250-664: The Odyssey were presented using puppetry. The roots of European puppetry probably extend back to the Greek plays with puppets played to the "common people" in the 5th century BC. By the 3rd century BC these plays would appear in the Theatre of Dionysus at the Acropolis . In ancient Greece and ancient 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, and in some cases an iron rod extending up from

5375-513: The duk-duk and tubuan masks of New Guinea are used to enforce social codes by intimidation. They are conical masks, made from cane and leaves. North American indigenous cultures in the Arctic and para-Arctic regions have tended towards simple religious practice but a highly evolved and rich mythology, especially concerning hunting. In some areas, annual shamanic ceremonies involved masked dances and these strongly abstracted masks are arguably

5500-564: The Aztecs , human skulls were prized as war trophies , and skull masks were not uncommon. Masks were also used as part of court entertainments, possibly combining political with religious significance. In post-colonial Latin America, pre-Columbian traditions merged with Christian rituals, and syncretic masquerades and ceremonies, such as All Souls / Day of the Dead developed, despite efforts of

5625-468: The Himalayas , masks functioned above all as mediators of supernatural forces. Yup'ik masks could be small 3-inch (7.6 cm) finger masks, but also 10-kilogram (22 lb) masks hung from the ceiling or carried by several people. Masks have been created with plastic surgery for mutilated soldiers. Masks in various forms – sacred, practical, or playful – have played a crucial historical role in

5750-711: The Idia 's Mask of Benin in present-day Edo State of Nigeria. It is believed to have been commissioned by a king of Benin in memory of his mother. To honor his dead mother, the king wore the mask on his hip during special ceremonies. The Senoufo people of the Ivory Coast represent tranquility by making masks with eyes half-shut and lines drawn near the mouth. The Temne of Sierra Leone use masks with small eyes and mouths to represent humility and humbleness. They represent wisdom by making bulging forehead. Other masks that have exaggerated long faces and broad foreheads symbolize

5875-564: The Munich Marionette Theatre . A German dramatist, poet, painter and composer, Pocci wrote 40 puppet plays for his theatre. Albrecht Roser has made a considerable impact with his marionettes in Stuttgart . His characters Clown Gustaf and Grandmother are well-known. Grandmother , while outwardly charming, is savagely humorous in her observations about all aspects of society and the absurdities of life. In Lindau ,

6000-565: The National Archaeological Museum in Sofia . It is considered to be the mask of a Thracian king, presumably Teres . Masks play a key part within world theatre traditions. They continue to be a vital force within contemporary theatre, and their usage takes a variety of forms and has often developed from, or continues to be part of old, highly sophisticated, stylized theatrical traditions. In many cultural traditions,

6125-450: The Qajar era (18th and 19th centuries) as influences from Turkey spread to the region. Kheimeh Shab-Bazi is a traditional Persian puppet show which is performed in a small chamber by a musical performer and a storyteller called a morshed or naghal . These shows often take place alongside storytelling in traditional tea and coffee-houses ( Ghahve-Khane ). The dialogue takes place between

6250-949: The Royal National Theatre and Madam Butterfly at the English National Opera . Many regional variants of Pulcinella were developed as the character spread across Europe. In the Netherlands it is Jan Klaassen (and Judy is Katrijn ); in Denmark Mester Jackel ; in Russia Petrushka ; and in Romania Vasilache . In Russia, the Central Puppet Theatre in Moscow and its branches in every part of

6375-633: The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher and is world-famous. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre still continues the tradition of presenting full-length opera using marionettes in their own purpose built theatre until recently under the direction of Gretl Aicher . It performs mainly operas such as Die Fledermaus and The Magic Flute and a small number of ballets such as The Nutcracker . The Salzburg Marionette Theatre productions are aimed for adults although children are of course welcome. There

SECTION 50

#1732772261306

6500-489: The cave paintings of Lascaux in the Dordogne in southern France. Such masks survive in the alpine regions of Austria and Switzerland, and may be connected with hunting or shamanism . Masks are used throughout Europe in modern times, and are frequently integrated into regional folk celebrations and customs. Old masks are preserved and can be seen in museums and other collections, and much research has been undertaken into

6625-407: The gendarme Flagéolet soon followed, but these are never much more than foils for the two heroes. Guignol's inevitable victory is always the triumph of good over evil. The traditional British Punch and Judy puppetry traces its roots to the 16th century to the Italian commedia dell'arte . The character of "Punch" derives from the character Pulcinella , which was Anglicized to Punchinello . He

6750-648: The "theatre of the lantern shadows", or as it is more commonly known today, Chinese shadow theatre . By the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), puppets played to all social classes including the courts, yet puppeteers, as in Europe, were considered to be from a lower social stratum. In Taiwan , budaixi puppet shows, somewhat similar to the Japanese bunraku, occur with puppeteers working in the background or underground. Some very experienced puppeteers can manipulate their puppets to perform various stunts, for example, somersaults in

6875-601: The 16th century from Egypt . The advocates of this view claim that shadow theatre found its way into the Ottoman palaces when Yavuz Sultan Selim conquered Egypt in 1517. He saw shadow theatre performed during a party in his honour and he was said to be so impressed with it that he took the puppeteer back to his palace in Istanbul where his 21-year -old son, later Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent , developed an interest in

7000-407: The 1920s and his son, Ramdas Padhye, subsequently popularised ventriloquism and puppetry. Almost all types of puppets are found in India. India has a rich and ancient tradition of string puppets or marionettes. Marionettes with jointed limbs controlled by strings allow far greater flexibility and are therefore the most articulate of the puppets. Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are some of

7125-428: The 1930s and thereafter, states Stuart Blackburn, these fears of its extinction were found to be false as evidence emerged that shadow puppetry had remained a vigorous rural tradition in central Kerala mountains, most of Karnataka, northern Andhra Pradesh, parts of Tamil Nadu, Odisha and southern Maharashtra. The Marathi people, particularly of low caste, had preserved and vigorously performed the legends of Hindu epics as

7250-846: The 19th century, puppetry faced competition from other forms of theatre such as vaudeville and music hall , but it adapted to these challenges, for example: by developing stage acts and participating in the new forms of popular theatre, or reinventing itself in other ways and finding audiences at the newly fashionable seaside resorts. The Teotihuacan culture (Central Mexico) of 600 AD made figurines with moveable arms and legs as part of their funerary rites. Native Americans also used ceremonial puppets. In 1519, two puppeteers accompanied Hernando Cortez on his first journey to Mexico. Europeans brought their own puppet traditions with them, but gradually distinctive styles, forms and puppet characters developed in North America . Mask A mask

7375-519: The 5th century BC in Ancient Greece . Some forms of puppetry may have originated as long ago as 3000 years BC . Puppetry takes many forms, but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects to tell a story. Puppetry occurs in almost all human societies where puppets are used for the purpose of entertainment through performance, as sacred objects in rituals , as symbolic effigies in celebrations such as carnivals , and as

7500-560: The Church to stamp out the indigenous traditions. Masks remain an important feature of popular carnivals and religious dances, such as The Dance of the Moors and Christians . Mexico, in particular, retains a great deal of creativity in the production of masks, encouraged by collectors. Wrestling matches, where it is common for the participants to wear masks , are very popular, and many of the wrestlers can be considered folk heroes. For instance,

7625-539: The Czech Association of Friends of Puppet Theatre and in 1912 advocated the publication of the oldest specialist puppet-theatre magazine still published today, Loutkář . Veselý played a key role in founding UNIMA (International Puppetry Association) in 1929, and was elected its first president. In 1920 and 1926 respectively, Josef Skupa created his most famous puppet characters: Spejbl and Hurvínek , comical father and his rascal son. In 1930, he set up

SECTION 60

#1732772261306

7750-602: The Guild's founders, H. W. Whanslaw and Waldo Lanchester , both worked to promote and develop puppetry with publications of books and literature, mainly focusing on the art of the marionette. Lanchester had a touring theatre and a permanent venue in Malvern, Worcestershire , regularly taking part in the Malvern Festival and attracting the attention of George Bernard Shaw . One of Shaw's last plays, Shakes versus Shav ,

7875-554: The Lindau Marionette Opera was founded in 2000 by Bernard Leismueller and Ralf Hechelmann . The company performs a large number of operas as well as a marionette ballet, Swan Lake . In Augsburg, the historic Augsburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1943 by Walter Oehmichen . It continues to this day along with an adjoining puppet museum under the grandsons of the founder, Klaus Marschall and Juergen Marschall . Much earlier in nearby Salzburg , Austria,

8000-662: The Venetian model. During the Reformation, many of these carnival customs began to die out in Protestant regions, although they seem to have survived in Catholic areas despite the opposition of the ecclesiastical authorities. So by the 19th century, the carnivals of the relatively wealthy bourgeois town communities, with elaborate masques and costumes, existed side by side with the ragged and essentially folkloric customs of

8125-514: The action of kneading bread. Wire controlled, articulated puppets made of clay and ivory have also been found in Egyptian tombs. Hieroglyphs also describe "walking statues" being used in ancient Egyptian religious dramas. Puppetry was practiced in ancient Greece and the oldest written records of puppetry can be found in the works of Herodotus and Xenophon , dating from the 5th century BC. Sub-Saharan Africa may have inherited some of

8250-458: The air. Japan has many forms of puppetry, including the bunraku. Bunraku developed out of Shinto temple rites and gradually became a highly sophisticated form of puppetry. Chikamatsu Monzaemon , considered by many to be Japan's greatest playwright, gave up writing kabuki plays and focused exclusively on the puppet-only bunraku plays. Initially consisting of one puppeteer, by 1730 three puppeteers were used to operate each puppet in full view of

8375-502: The art form of water puppetry , unique to that country. The puppets are built out of wood and the shows are performed in a waist-high pool. A large rod under the water is used by puppeteers to support and control the puppets, creating the appearance of the puppets moving over water. The origin of this form of puppetry dates back seven hundred years when the rice fields would flood and the villagers would entertain each other. Puppet show competitions between Vietnamese villages eventually led to

8500-606: The arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays. The present uses are as miniature masks for tourist souvenirs, or on mobile phones , where they hang as good-luck talismans. Theatre in the Middle East, as elsewhere, was initially of a ritual nature, dramatising human relationships with nature, the deities, and other human beings. It grew out of sacred rites of myths and legends performed by priests and lay actors at fixed times and often in fixed locations. Folk theatre – mime, mask, puppetry, farce, juggling – had

8625-463: The audience. The puppeteers, who dressed all in black, would become invisible when standing against a black background, while the torches illuminated only the carved, painted and costumed wooden puppets. Korea 's tradition of puppetry is thought to have come from China. The oldest historical evidence of puppetry in Korea comes from a letter written in 982 A.D. from Choe Seung-roe to the King. In Korean,

8750-620: The beginning of the new century, on 19 August 2004, the Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Kitov discovered a 673 g gold mask in the burial mound "Svetitsata" near Shipka , Central Bulgaria . It is a very fine piece of workmanship made out of massive 23 karat gold. Unlike other masks discovered in the Balkans (of which three are in Republic of Macedonia and two in Greece), it is now kept in

8875-481: The body. There are a wide variety of masks used in Africa. In West Africa, masks are used in masquerades that form part of religious ceremonies enacted to communicate with spirits and ancestors. Examples are the masquerades of the Yoruba , Igbo , and Edo cultures, including Egungun Masquerades and Northern Edo Masquerades . The masks are usually carved with an extraordinary skill and variety by artists who will usually have received their training as an apprentice to

9000-489: The carved images of monstrous heads that dominate the facades of Hindu and Buddhist temples. These faces or Kirtimukhas , 'Visages of Glory', are intended to ward off evil and are associated with the animal world as well as the divine. During ceremonies, these visages are given active form in the great mask dramas of the South and South-eastern Asian region. In Indonesia, the mask dance predates Hindu-Buddhist influences. It

9125-651: The celebrations were demonised and viewed as mere devils , or were subjugated to the Abrahamic God . Many of the masks and characters used in European festivals belong to the contrasting categories of the 'good', or 'idealised beauty', set against the 'ugly' or 'beastly' and grotesque. This is particularly true of the Germanic and Central European festivals. Another common type is the Fool , sometimes considered to be

9250-507: The ceremonies of the Dogon culture are secret, although the antelope dance is shown to non-Dogons. The antelope masks are rough rectangular boxes with several horns coming out of the top. The Dogons are expert agriculturists and the antelope symbolizes a hard-working farmer. Another culture that has a very rich agricultural tradition is the Bamana people of Mali. The antelope (called Chiwara )

9375-609: The country enhanced the reputation of the puppeteer and puppetry in general. There is a long tradition of puppetry in Germany and Austria. Much of it derives from the 16th-century tradition of the Italian commedia dell'arte . The German version of the British character of 'Punch' is called Kasperle of Kaspar while Judy is called Grete . In the 18th century, operas were specifically composed for marionette puppets. Gluck , Haydn , de Falla and Respighi all composed adult operas for marionettes. In 1855, Count Franz Pocci founded

9500-512: The creation of secretive and exclusive puppet societies. The Philippines first developed its art of puppetry during the Spanish colonial period. The oldest known Filipino puppetry is the carrillo , also known as kikimut , titire , and potei . It was first recorded in 1879. It involves small carts used in puppet plays with figures made of cardboard utilized for shadow plays. In the late 1800s, another Filipino puppetry developed. Higantes are giant papier-mâché puppets, numbering more than

9625-563: The development of understandings about "what it means to be human", because they permit the imaginative experience of "what it is like" to be transformed into a different identity (or to affirm an existing social or spiritual identity). Not all cultures have known the use of masks, but most of them have. Throughout the world, masks are used for their expressive power as a feature of masked performance – both ritually and in various theatre traditions. The ritual and theatrical definitions of mask use frequently overlap and merge but still provide

9750-455: The dialogue, the movement of the puppet and the beat of the dholak are well synchronised and create a dramatic atmosphere. In Kerala , the traditional glove puppet play is called Pavakoothu . Afghanistan has produced a form of puppetry known as buz-baz . During a performance a puppeteer will simultaneously operate a marionette of a markhor while playing a dambura (long-necked lute). Middle Eastern puppetry, like its other theatre forms,

9875-625: The earlier revels and had become evident by the 15th century in places such as Rome and Venice , where they developed as entertainments to enliven towns and cities. Thus the Maundy Thursday carnival in St. Marks Square in Venice, attended by the Doge and aristocracy, also involved the guilds, including a guild of maskmakers. There is evidence of ' commedia dell'arte '-inspired Venetian masks and by

10000-552: The early part of the Middle Ages. Marionettes first appeared around the time of the Thirty Years' War . The first noted Czech puppeteer was Jan Jiří Brat, who was born in 1724. He was the son of a local carpenter and created his own puppet theatre. Matěj Kopecký was the most famous 19th-century Czech puppeteer, and was responsible for communicating the ideas of national awareness. In 1911, Jindřich Veselý co-founded

10125-463: The enduring power of pretense and play and the power and appeal of masks. Ritual masks occur throughout the world, and although they tend to share many characteristics, highly distinctive forms have developed. The function of the masks may be magical or religious; they may appear in rites of passage or as a make-up for a form of theatre. Equally masks may disguise a penitent or preside over important ceremonies; they may help mediate with spirits, or offer

10250-401: The epic can take forty-one nights, while an abridged performance lasts as few as seven days. One feature of the tholu pava koothu show is that it is a team performance of puppeteers, while other shadow plays such as the wayang of Indonesia are performed by a single puppeteer for the same Ramayana story. There are regional differences within India in the puppet arts. For example, women play

10375-435: The family or funerals, were carried out at the shrine under the watch of the ancestral masks. At funerals, professional actors would wear these masks to perform deeds of the lives of the ancestors, thus linking the role of mask as a ritual object and in theatre. Masks are a familiar and vivid element in many folk and traditional pageants , ceremonies , rituals , and festivals , and are often of an ancient origin. The mask

10500-604: The first modern professional puppet theatre. An important puppet organisation is the National Marionette Theatre in Prague. Its repertoire mainly features a marionette production of Mozart 's opera Don Giovanni . The production has period costumes and 18th-century setting. There are numerous other companies, including Buchty a Loutky ("Cakes and Puppets"), founded by Marek Bečka . Puppets have been used extensively in animated films since 1946. Jiří Trnka

10625-700: The forces of darkness and winter, and open the way for the spirits of light and the coming of spring. In Sardinia existed the tradition of Mamuthones e Issohadores of Mamoiada ; Boes e Merdules of Ottana ; Thurpos of Orotelli ; S'Urtzu , Su 'Omadore and Sos Mamutzones of Samugheo . The celebration of Giubiana in Canzo ( Lombardy ) preserves a tradition of masks of anguane , wild man , bear and its hunter, and Giubiana herself, among others. Another tradition of European masks developed, more self-consciously, from court and civic events, or entertainments managed by guilds and co-fraternities. These grew out of

10750-498: The function of transmitting cultural values and ideas that in large African cities is increasingly undertaken by formal education, books, cinema, and television. There is evidence for puppetry in the Indus Valley civilization . Archaeologists have unearthed one terracotta doll with a detachable head capable of manipulation by a string dating to 2500 BC. Another figure is a terracotta monkey which could be manipulated up and down

10875-401: The gigaku and bugaku and are acted entirely by men. The masks are worn throughout very long performances and are consequently very light. The nō mask is the supreme achievement of Japanese mask-making. Nō masks represent gods, men, women, madmen and devils, and each category has many sub-divisions. Kyōgen are short farces with their own masks, and accompany the tragic nō plays. Kabuki is

11000-418: The globe, Little Angel Theatre works with its local community to tackle barriers to arts engagement so all can benefit and enjoy the art form of puppetry. Puppeteers who have entertained here include Sarah Burgess who has created several roles for CBeebies , as well as Rainbow puppeteer Ronnie Le Drew . The theatre's creative learning department work with schools and youth and community groups, running

11125-521: The glove puppet comes alive. The tradition of glove puppets in India is popular in Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Kerala. In Uttar Pradesh , glove puppet plays usually present social themes, whereas in Orissa such plays are based on stories of Radha and Krishna. In Orissa , the puppeteer plays a dholak (hand drum) with one hand and manipulates the puppet with the other. The delivery of

11250-468: The gods, while nuo dance masks protected from bad spirits. Wedding masks were used to pray for good luck and a lasting marriage, and "Swallowing Animal" masks were associated with protecting the home and symbolised the "swallowing" of disaster. Opera masks were used in a basic "common" form of opera performed without a stage or backdrops. These led to colourful facial patterns that we see in today's Peking opera . Masked characters, usually divinities, are

11375-410: The historical origins of masks. Most probably represent nature spirits , and as a result many of the associated customs are seasonal. The original significance would have survived only until the introduction of Christianity , which incorporated many of the customs into its own traditions. In that process their meanings were changed also so, for example, old gods and goddesses originally associated with

11500-605: The late 16th century the Venetian Carnival began to reach its peak and eventually lasted a whole 'season' from January until Lent . By the 18th century, it was already a tourist attraction, Goethe saying that he was ugly enough not to need a mask. The carnival was repressed during the Napoleonic Republic, although in the 1980s its costumes and the masks aping the 18th century heyday were revived. It appears other cities in central Europe were influenced by

11625-512: The masked performer is a central concept and is highly valued. In the western tradition, actors in Ancient Greek theatre wore masks, as they do in traditional Japanese Noh drama. In some Greek masks, the wide and open mouth of the mask contained a brass megaphone enabling the voice of the wearer to be projected into the large auditoria. In medieval Europe, masks were used in mystery and miracle plays to portray allegorical creatures, and

11750-753: The morshed and the puppets. A recent example of puppetry in Iran is the touring opera Rostam and Sohrab . Although there are few remaining examples of puppets from ancient Greece , historical literature and archaeological findings shows the existence of puppetry. The Greek word translated as "puppet" is "νευρόσπαστος" ( nevrospastos ), which literally means "drawn by strings, string-pulling", from "νεῦρον" ( nevron ), meaning either "sinew, tendon, muscle, string", or "wire", and "σπάω" ( spaō ), meaning "draw, pull". Aristotle referred to pulling strings to control heads, hands and eyes, shoulders and legs. Plato 's work also contains references to puppetry. The Iliad and

11875-552: The most striking artifacts produced in this region. Inuit groups vary widely and share neither a common mythology nor language. Not surprisingly their mask traditions are also often different, although their masks are often made out of driftwood, animal skins, bones, and feathers. In some areas Inuit women use finger masks during storytelling and dancing. Indigenous Pacific Northwest coastal cultural groups generally included highly skilled woodworkers . Their masks were often masterpieces of carving, sometimes with movable jaws, with

12000-471: The motto of a prominent Lyon troupe: "Guignol amuses children… and witty adults". Laurent Mourguet , Guignol's creator, fell on hard times during the French Revolution, and in 1797 started to practice dentistry , which in those days was simply the pulling of teeth. To attract patients, he started setting up a puppet show in front of his dentist's chair. His first shows featured Polichinelle ,

12125-421: The neck. The rest of the figure consists of a long, flowing skirt. These puppets are like limp dolls, but in the hands of an able puppeteer, are capable of producing a wide range of movements. The manipulation technique is simple the movements are controlled by the human hand, the first finger inserted in the head and the middle finger and the thumb in the two arms of the puppet. With the help of these three fingers,

12250-624: The ordinary roles were often inverted. Sometimes a slave or a criminal was temporarily granted the insignia and status of royalty, only to be killed after the festival ended. The Carnival of Venice , in which all are equal behind their masks, dates back to 1268 AD. The use of carnivalesque masks in the Jewish Purim festivities probably originated in the late 15th century, although some Jewish authors claim it has always been part of Judaic tradition. The North American Iroquois tribes used masks for healing purposes (see False Face Society ). In

12375-530: The origin of Burmese marionettes is given as around 1780, during the reign of King Singu Min , and their introduction is credited to the Minister of Royal Entertainment, U Thaw. From their inception, marionettes enjoyed great popularity in the courts of the Konbaung dynasty . Little has changed since the creation of the art by U Thaw, and the set of characters developed by him is still in use today. India has

12500-625: The parts sometimes moved by pulling cords, or a mask within a mask to represent a magical transformation. The carving of masks was an important feature of woodcraft, along with many other features that often combined the utilitarian with the symbolic, such as shields , canoes , poles, and houses. Woodland tribes, especially in the northeastern and around the Great Lakes , cross-fertilized culturally with one another. The Iroquois made spectacular wooden ' false face ' masks, used in healing ceremonies and carved from living trees. These masks appear in

12625-545: The performer representing God frequently wore a gold or gilt mask. During the Renaissance , masques and ballet de cour developed – courtly masked entertainments that continued as part of ballet conventions until the late eighteenth century. The masked characters of the Commedia dell'arte included the ancestors of the modern clown. In contemporary western theatre, the mask is often used alongside puppetry to create

12750-435: The performers, with several different types of mask used for different types of character. In Ancient Rome, the word persona meant 'a mask'; it also referred to an individual who had full Roman citizenship . A citizen could demonstrate his or her lineage through imagines – death masks of ancestors. These were wax casts kept in a lararium (the family shrine). Rites of passage, such as initiation of young members of

12875-593: The plays. In other areas, the style of shadow puppetry known as khayal al-zill , a metaphor translated as "shadows of the imagination" or "shadow of fancy", still survives. This is a shadow play with live music, "the accompaniment of drums, tambourines and flutes...also..."special effects" – smoke, fire, thunder, rattles, squeaks, thumps, and whatever else might elicit a laugh or a shudder from his audience" In Iran , puppets are known to have existed much earlier than 1000 AD, but initially only glove and string puppets were popular . Other genres of puppetry emerged during

13000-531: The popular wrestler El Santo continued wearing his mask after retirement, revealed his face briefly only in old age, and was buried wearing his silver mask. In China, masks are thought to have originated in ancient religious ceremonies. Images of people wearing masks have been found in rock paintings along the Yangtze . Later mask forms brings together myths and symbols from shamanism and Buddhism . Shigong dance masks were used in shamanic rituals to thank

13125-808: The pre-recorded character dialogue to the puppets' mouth movements. Anderson returned to puppetry in 1983 with Terrahawks and the unaired pilot Space Police in 1987. Current British puppetry theatres include the Little Angel Theatre in Islington , London, Puppet Theatre Barge in London, Norwich Puppet Theatre , the Harlequin Puppet Theatre , Rhos-on-Sea , Wales, and the Biggar Puppet Theatre, Biggar, Lanarkshire , Scotland . British puppetry now covers

13250-465: The precise derivation of human culture and early activities, the invention and use of the mask is only one area of unsolved inquiry. The use of masks dates back several millennia. It is conjectured that the first masks may have been used by primitive people to associate the wearer with some kind of unimpeachable authority, such as a deity, or to otherwise lend credence to the person's claim on a given social role. The earliest known anthropomorphic artwork

13375-585: The puppet drama play is performed by itinerant artist families on temporary stages during major temple festivals. Legends from the Hindu epics Ramayana and the Mahabharata dominate their repertoire. However, the details and the stories vary regionally. During the 19th century and early parts of the 20th century of the colonial era, Indologists believed that shadow puppet plays had become extinct in India, though mentioned in its ancient Sanskrit texts. In

13500-443: The puppet traditions of ancient Egypt. Certainly, secret societies in many African ethnic groups still use puppets (and masks ) in ritual dramas as well as in their healing and hunting ceremonies. Today, puppetry continues as a popular form, often within a ceremonial context, and as part of a wide range of folk forms including dance, storytelling, and masked performance . In the 2010s throughout rural Africa, puppetry still performed

13625-477: The puppets is an elaborate ritual, where the artist families in India pray, go into seclusion, produce the required art work, then celebrate the "metaphorical birth of a puppet" with flowers and incense. The tholu pava koothu of Kerala uses leather puppets whose images are projected on a backlit screen. The shadows are used to creatively express characters and stories in the Ramayana . A complete performance of

13750-401: The regions where this form of puppetry has flourished. The traditional marionettes of Rajasthan are known as Kathputli . Carved from a single piece of wood, these puppets are like large dolls that are colourfully dressed. The string puppets of Orissa are known as Kundhei . The string puppets of Karnataka are called Gombeyatta . Puppets from Tamil Nadu , known as Bommalattam , combine

13875-469: The rod and two strings, Radillo's marionettes were controlled by as many as eight strings, which increased control over the individual body parts of the marionettes. Guignol is the main character in the French puppet show which has come to bear his name. Although often thought of as children's entertainment, Guignol's sharp wit and linguistic verve have always been appreciated by adults as well, as shown by

14000-411: The rural areas. Although these civic masquerades and their masks may have retained elements drawn from popular culture, the survival of carnival in the 19th century was often a consequence of a self-conscious 'folklore' movement that accompanied the rise of nationalism in many European countries. Nowadays, during carnival in the Netherlands masks are often replaced with face paint for more comfort. In

14125-422: The sacred. This is often accomplished by linking the mask to an ancestral presence, and thus bringing the past into the present. As a culture of scattered islands and peninsulars, Melanesian mask forms have developed in a highly diversified fashion, with a great deal of variety in their construction and aesthetic. In Papua New Guinea, six-metre-high totem masks are placed to protect the living from spirits; whereas

14250-545: The soberness of one's duty that comes with power. War masks are also popular. The Grebo of the Ivory Coast and Liberia carve masks with round eyes to represent alertness and anger, with the straight nose to represent unwillingness to retreat. Today, the qualities of African art are beginning to be more understood and appreciated. However, most African masks are now being produced for the tourist trade. Although they often show skilled craftsmanship, they nearly always lack

14375-504: The spiritual character of the traditional tribal masks. The variety and beauty of the masks of Melanesia are almost as highly developed as in Africa. It is a culture where ancestor worship is dominant and religious ceremonies are devoted to ancestors. Inevitably, many of the mask types relate to use in these ceremonies and are linked with the activities of secret societies. The mask is regarded as an instrument of revelation, giving form to

14500-455: The synthesis of the two contrasting types, Handsome and Ugly. Masks also tend to be associated with New Year and Carnival festivals. The debate about the meaning of these and other mask forms continues in Europe, where monsters , bears , wild men , harlequins , hobby horses , and other fanciful characters appear in carnivals throughout the continent. It is generally accepted that the masks, noise, colour, and clamour are meant to drive away

14625-855: The techniques of rod and string puppets. Shadow puppets are an ancient part of India's culture and art, particularly regionally as the keelu bomme and Tholu bommalata of Andhra Pradesh , the Togalu gombeyaata in Karnataka , the charma bahuli natya in Maharashtra , the Ravana chhaya in Odisha , the Tholpavakoothu in Kerala and the thol bommalatta in Tamil Nadu . Shadow puppet play

14750-448: The theatre of modern Japan, rooted in the older forms, but in this form masks are replaced by painted faces. Korean masks have a long tradition associated with shamanism and later in ritual dance. Korean masks were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in

14875-499: The tops of their heads. This rod was used to manipulate the doll from above, as it is done today in Sicilian puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of rods. Some researchers believe these ancient figures were simply toys and not puppets, due to their small size. Italy is considered by many to be the early home of the marionette due to the influence of Roman puppetry. Xenophon and Plutarch refer to them. The Christian church used marionettes to perform morality plays . It

15000-501: The wearer's body. In art history , especially sculpture , "mask" is the term for a face without a body that is not modelled in the round (which would make it a "head"), but for example appears in low relief . The word "mask" appeared in English in the 1530s, from Middle French masque "covering to hide or guard the face", derived in turn from Italian maschera , from Medieval Latin masca "mask, specter, nightmare". This word

15125-512: The whole head, and are often highly abstracted forms. Navajo masks appear to be inspired by the Pueblo prototypes. In modern immigrant Euro-American culture, masking is a common feature of Mardi Gras traditions, most notably in New Orleans . Costumes and masks (originally inspired by masquerade balls ) are frequently worn by " krewe "-members on Mardi Gras Day; local laws against using

15250-484: The word for puppet is Kkoktugakshi . Gagsi means a "bride" or a "young woman", which was the most common form the dolls took. A kkoktugakshi puppet play has eight scenes. The Indonesian wayang theater was influenced by Indian traditions. Some scholars trace the origin of puppets to India 4000 years ago, where the main character in Sanskrit plays was known as Sutradhara , "the holder of strings". Wayang

15375-605: Was an acknowledged leader in this area. Miroslav Trejtnar is a master puppeteer and teacher of traditional Czech marionette-making skills. In 2016, Czech and Slovak Puppetry was included on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists . Throughout this period, puppetry developed separately from the emerging mainstream of actor theatres, and the 'ragged' puppeteers performed outside of theatre buildings at fairs, markets etc., continuing to be classified along with bandits and gypsies. In

15500-452: Was mainly of lower-class origin, but the marionette theatre was popular in aristocratic circles, as a celebration of the Age of Enlightenment . The effects, and the artful and complex construction of the puppets, the puppet theatres, and the puppet narratives, were all popular, particularly in Venice. In the 19th century, the marionettes of Pietro Radillo became more complex and instead of just

15625-404: Was written for and first performed in 1949 by the company. From 1957 to 1969, Gerry Anderson produced many television series starring marionettes, starting with Roberta Leigh 's The Adventures of Twizzle and ending with The Secret Service . Many of these series (the most famous of which was Thunderbirds ) employed a technique called Supermarionation , which automatically synchronized

#305694