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Where Puppets Move

The events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have dragged performers into a sort of ideological rabbit hole, entirely dislocated from the artifice and audiences that comprise the more familiar theatrical experience. After more than a year of adapting rehearsals and sharing Zoom link tickets, many of these changes have forced artists to reimagine every aspect of their work on both sides of the curtain. Puppetry—with a unique and diverse relationship to theatrical space, and the plasticity of its performers—has, historically, found itself well-positioned to thrive in ever changing, often hidden, and deliberately reimagined environments like the ones we endure today. This series draws on work by a wide range of professionals hailing from both academic and performance fields to explore the unique power of puppets in their spaces, existing between the real and imagined, supremely adaptable to a world turned upside down. The writers of this series are all connected through the University of Salzburg, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre and the Salzburg Puppet Theatre Research Hub.

Puppet is standing behind a desk made to scale with tiny lamp and white phone. Newspaper clippings compose the backdrop.
Puppets in Space
Essay

Puppets in Space

Dramaturgical Thinking and the Mosaic Scale for Puppetry

9 April 2021

Emily LeQuesne discusses space as it relates to puppetry and shares a practical, five-step dramaturgy system for puppet theatre, which she developed, called the Mosaic Scale.

A picture of puppets on stage.
La Máquina Real / La Máquina Real
Essay

La Máquina Real / La Máquina Real

Reviving a Baroque Puppet Tradition / Recupera los títeres de una tradición perdida

8 April 2021

Emilio Williams sits down with Jesús Caballero to talk about the lost puppetry genre called la máquina real and Jesús’s company in Spain that works to reimagine this Baroque art form. / Emilio Williams entabla una conversación con Jesús Caballero sobre un género de teatro de títeres olvidado de nombre la máquina real y los esfuerzos de Jesús y su compañía en España por recuperar esta tradición barroca.

Image of two puppeteers on stage using puppets in front of a digital created forest backdrop.
Spaces of Puppetry in Lübeck
Essay

Spaces of Puppetry in Lübeck

7 April 2021

Antonia Napp, Sonja Riehn, Silke Technau, and Stephan Schlafke share learnings about running KOLK 17, a cultural institution in Lübeck, Germany that combines a puppetry theatre company and puppetry museum, and where the goal is to redefine exhibiting the art form.

protestors at the people's climate march
Puppets in Protest
Essay

Puppets in Protest

6 April 2021

Sarah Plummer discusses how puppets aid socially engaged groups during protests in three key ways: amplifying tension, creating accessible messaging, and evoking solidarity.

The view from backstage during a performance by the Dragoncillo Puppet Troupe, 2019
“We’re all mad here”
Essay

“We’re all mad here”

An Exploration of the Spaces of Puppetry

5 April 2021

Esther Fernández and Jason Yancey introduce their series, Where Puppets Move, sharing how the 2020 conference “Puppet Theatre: In the Beginning Were Puppets” at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre inspired their questions about reimagined performance spaces.

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