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Whether performed as object theater, as adult puppetry, or in various traditional styles, puppetry has always been a tool to express subversion, or 'demons rather than institutions' of society. What are puppets called upon to do or perform by puppeteers, artists, and community builders?
What are puppets called upon to do or perform by puppeteers, artists, and community builders? This paper draws from participation in a puppetry intensive with Sandglass Theater in the summer of 2016, from applied uses of puppetry in community building in Istanbul, and from a broader literature on performing objects. The conception of the puppet or performing object as an "actant" (Latour) or as a "text" that has its own volition creates profound and powerful avenues for empathy, ethical exploration and poetic economy. Training as a puppeteer, one of the first things we learn is to "animate" rather than "control" a puppet. This is particularly the case with puppet performance that involves the co-presence of actor and puppet together. Puppetry and material performance problematize notions of text, story and narrative in ways that deepen and challenge concepts in folklore and ethnography.