Educational Puppetry Co.

Relationship between adult and chilren puppetry example

This is a piece that I found shared the simple example of how puppetry can both cater to the entertainment of children and adults.  The concept behind the content of this piece feels more directed towards the adult audience.  It shows the frustrations that married couples have in everyday life.  The children can also appreciate this piece because the characters are very theatrical and cartoon-like.

Blog Question #3

In reading Chapter 4, I found that I was most intrigued by the Chinese shadow puppets.  Although, I did find Margo and Rufus Rose's marionette puppets of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to be very interesting since I am a dancer; I felt that there wasn't enough valuable information to expand on their puppet characters.  The Chinese shadow play really caught my eye because of the interesting and unique fact that shadows are being used in the puppetry.  I really was drawn to the beautiful bright colors and intricate design and craftsmanship of these puppets. 

Often times, these shows utilize loud music as accompaniment.  I think this is neat element that I really like to see added to puppet theater rather than script/text.  I think I relate to the music aspect of puppetry so closely because it feels like a choreographed dance.  The particular shadow play that chapter 4 depicted and talked about was The Chaos Box.  It utilizes animals as the characters; lizards, centipedes, and a handful of other supernatural, mythical characters.

Blog Question #2

In the documentary "Puppetry: Worlds of Imagination," three puppeteers they really focused on were Basil Twist, Ralph Lee, and Michael Curry.  Each puppeteer had a distinct trademark that set them aside from one another.

Basil Twist was a very unique puppet master that used the ever so intriguing under-water puppets.  He took a really abstract approach to this method, and made his puppets far from naturalistic.  Different kinds of fabric, and textures were used to create the unique look Twist was striving for.  He studied in France at a school for puppetry, yet gained much of his inspiration from a 20th century Spanish artist.

The next artist featured in the documentary was Ralph Lee.  Lee really gained inspiration from mythical creatures, mythology, symbolism, etc.  He also used a new approach in his puppet design in which he called body puppets.  For example, the documentary showed a woman standing on top of two giant wheels for a realistic yet imaginative illusion.

Michael Curry is a world famous puppeteer.  He utilizes many of today's technologies in his work to put on elaborate shows.  Curry gains inspiration and ideas through illusion, mythology, and technical assistance.   He really enjoys using human movers within his puppets to make them come to life.  He is fascinated with gymnasts, dancers, and athletes.

What is a way that puppetry can represent the turmoil going on in Egypt?