Wednesday, 14.02.2007
Rogers rates Puppetry
Ireland produces some of the most cutting-edge comedians in the world - biting social commentators, risk takers and satirists. They are all puppets. Not to the RTE machine, but to the hands taking liberties up their shirts.
In the 80's, the Lambert Puppet Theatre paved the way for pioneering puppets with money on their minds. The real stars of Wanderly Wagon were Judge and Mr. Crow and everyone knew of the bitter rivalry and downright brawls between Marion and Bosco. Then there was the Den. Dustin the Turkey, Podge and Rodge, even the betrayers Zig and Zag - they started off just doing it for the kids. However, they quickly worked their way into new BMWs and into the hearts and minds of the Irish people.
Perhaps, though, it's time for a new puppet on the block. The market is ripe for a wisecracking rabbit or a misshapen Galway woman. You could be the one to bring them to life with a short course in the art of puppetry.
Puppetry has been around since early civilisation. Puppets were often used in religious ceremonies and China, India and Java have strong ancient traditions of puppet theatre. Native Americans used puppets in ceremonial magic. Puppets were not the friendly, furry monsters that we have today. They were strongly ritualistic and in some cases, a powerful force for social change.
Puppetry's subversive role really began in revolutionary 17th century England with the most famous puppet character of them all, Punch. Punch was a popular figure in a country swaying from tremendous social upheavals - England was making the transition to capitalism and the industrial revolution was on the cards. Oh, and the country was entering into civil war. Punch eased the life of the downtrodden peasants, who had little to do but contract disease and stick one another with pitchforks. His irreverent look on life, which involved him criticising the clergy, the King and the government led to him being subject to repressive laws and deep suspicion.
The radical element of puppetry is still around. The famous company, the Bread and Puppet Theatre, was born during the 60's and concentrated on protesting the Vietnam War. The company is still puppetting today, demonstrating against injustice and campaigning for social change.
It is possible, of course, that you don't want to change the world through puppetry. Maybe you just want to make a lion with sharp teeth and a nice hat to amuse the kids. Or perhaps you want to enter into a career as a puppeteer, working for yourself, amusing shoppers in the Ilac centre with your talents. In this case, you will need some puppets and a healthy attitude to constructive criticism.
A basic course should teach you how to make at least one of the main types of puppets - glove, rod, marionette, or shadow. The glove puppet is basic and effective. They have a hollow cloth body that fits over your hand; your fingers fit into the head and the arms and give them motion. Figures are seen from the waist upward, and there are normally no legs. Bosco was a rare aberration.
Rod puppets are full-length figures manipulated from below, supported by a rod running inside the body to the head. Separate thin rods are used to move the hands and the legs. Figures of this type are traditional on the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali.
Marionettes are the jointed puppets attached by strings to an X-shaped control. You usually buy these while on holiday in France and inevitably abandon them after two days, with their legs permanently entangled under their armpits. If you decide to produce one of these, you will need to learn the fine art of marionette tuning. Tilting or rocking the control imparts movement, but individual strings are plucked when a more decided movement is required. The more strings you have, the harder the puppet is to control.
There is more to shadow puppetry than making shapes on your bedroom wall, all of which look like a hand. Real shadow puppets are a special type of flat figure, in which the shadow is seen through a translucent screen. They can be cut from leather or some other opaque material, as in the traditional theatres of Java, Bali, and Thailand. The figures may also be cut from a semi-transparent material such as coloured fish skins, as is done in China, India, Turkey, and Greece. My bet is that most art teachers won't be able to put their hands on the rainbow-trout skins, so you will probably end up using greaseproof paper.
So, do you want to make something that will love you unconditionally and always does what you tell it to? Have you already been disappointed by your children? If the answers are yes, then puppetry is the class for you. Remember, there is more to puppetry than Kermit and Miss Piggy. We have an opportunity to really change things here. Socky is still going live on Den TV.
Stop him, before he talks again. Vive la Revolution!
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