Puppets and Puppetry. Beaumont, Cyril.
The Studio Publications. New York, 1958.
The Puppet To-Day
Thackeray's The Rose and the Ring
The Tony Sarg Marionette Book
Helen Joseph's A Book of Marionettes
Bufano's How to be a Puppet Showman
Paul McPharlin of Detroit produces an annual publication Puppetry
making it's first appearance in 1930, and also participated in the formation in 1937 of the society called The Puppeteers of America
Among representative American puppeteers may be mentioned the following stellar characters:
Marjorie Batchelder,
Gustave Baumann,
Bill Baird,
Remo Bufano,
Ralph Chesse',
Donald Cordry,
Weaver and Kathryn Dallas,
Perry Dilley,
William Duncan,
Sue Hastings,
R. Bruce Inverarity,
Helen Joseph,
Otto Kunze,
Edward Mabley,
Jerome Magon,
Harold and Roy Patton,
Paul McPharlin,
Basil Milovsoroff,
Elena Mitcoff,
Nicholas Nelson,
Bernard Paul,
Romain Proctor,
Rufus Rose,
Tony Sarg,
Martin and Olga Stevens,
and
Donald B. Vestal.
In Belgium,
Carlo Speder.
At Verviers there is a curious Betie'me or Bethlehem, which consists of a series of tableaux composed of puppets and appropriate setting arranged in small glazed cases, which are place on trestles and covered with cloths. The spectators are guided past the cases by an old woman who, as each covering is drawn, explains the incident shown.
In Czechoslovakia, puppetry is not only a highly popular entertainment, but also a well-organised educational force, as may be gathered from the fact that the republic can must over 2,000 puppet theatres; it is true, however, that these are mainly amateur.
Their traditions are three centuries old. At first there were travelling puppeteers who journeyed from village to village, bringing entertainment to country folk, and acquainting them with adaptations of stage plays by native and foreign authors; this led to the puppet theatre.
Joseph Skupa (1892-1957), with his puppet clown, Kasparel, a kind of Czech Punch, attracted attention by satirical comments on the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, then dominating the country After the First World War, Skupa founded the first professional theatre in the Czechoslovak Republic; he also created two puppets, later famous throughout Europe: Spejbl, a dull-witted father, and Hurvinek, his precocious and cheeky son.
Human puppeteering is currently being practiced by all governments existing today on our planet. It is time to cut their strings.
From An Excerpt of the latest issue of the Free and Clear Intelligence Review. Copyright G! Alex Gabor
GAG
AI
