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Puppetry and Object Theatre

This section is full of content about the art and craft of puppetry and object theatre—performances created primarily using puppets and objects, rather than the full bodies of actors. A great introduction to the topic is our 2015 Puppetry series curated by Jean Marie Keevins.

The Latest

The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium
Video
The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium
Bringing together practicing festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas.
Sunday 28 January 2024
United States
Global Puppetry in the United States
Video
Global Puppetry in the United States
A Presentation of Excerpts from Chinese Theatre Works (New York) and US Karagöz Theatre Company (Washington)
Monday 30 October 2023
New York City
Lambe-Lambe and the Radical Generosity of Miniature Puppet Theatre
Essay
Lambe-Lambe and the Radical Generosity of Miniature Puppet Theatre
by Kristin Idaszak
10 October 2023
Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium Event Poster.
The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium
Video

The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium

Bringing together practicing festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas.

Sunday 28 January 2024
United States

This year’s Symposium featured festival artists on four different artist panels discussing the materiality of the puppet in both theory and practice. It also featured book talks by puppet scholars of four new US publications released this year.

shadow puppets representing a horse and a rabbit.
Global Puppetry in the United States
Video

Global Puppetry in the United States

A Presentation of Excerpts from Chinese Theatre Works (New York) and US Karagöz Theatre Company (Washington)

Monday 30 October 2023
New York City

An evening celebrating the work of New York based international puppet theatre company Chinese Theatre Works and Washington's US Karagöz Theatre Company. Ayhan Hulagu (KTC), Kuang-Yu Fong, Stephen Kaplin (CTW) presented excerpts from their repertoires and demonstrated the puppets. The panel was joined by Prof. Marvin Carlson, editor of one of the latest Segal Center Publications: Turkish Traditional Theatre: Karagöz Puppet Plays.

A woman holding a tiny doll with glasses up to the camera.
Lambe-Lambe and the Radical Generosity of Miniature Puppet Theatre
Essay

Lambe-Lambe and the Radical Generosity of Miniature Puppet Theatre

10 October 2023

Kristin Idaszak reflects on experiencing Nina Vogel’s lambe-lambe piece ConCordis at the Prague Quadrennial. This deceptively simple puppet performance aided Kristin in processing her feelings about her work in theatre while navigating chronic illness, and also reminded her of the deep connection to the universe that we all share.

two women in 1950s clothing stand in front of a puppet theater proscenium frame with the wonderland puppet theater written on its front.
Oral Histories of Wonderland Puppet Theatre During the Civil Rights Movement
Video

Oral Histories of Wonderland Puppet Theatre During the Civil Rights Movement

Panel Discussion with Residents of Concord Park, Pennsylvania

Saturday 22 July 2023
Pennsylvania

Housing rights activist Morris Milgram developed Concord Park outside of Philadelphia as an interracial community at a time when covenants prohibiting the sale of homes to African Americans and other minority groups were routinely included in deeds. Children of the Wonderland Puppet Theatre puppeteers discussed their experience growing up in a neighborhood that intentionally sought to fulfill Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of beloved community and the role that the Wonderland Puppet Theatre played in unifying neighbors.

two actors in suits on stage amid falling papers.
Office Hours: Phelim McDermott
Video

Office Hours: Phelim McDermott

A Live, Virtual Conversation on Directing and Collaboration with Phelim McDermott and Frank Hentschker

Tuesday 28 March 2023
New York City

In advance of McDermott’s upcoming New York Premiere of Tao of Glass at NYU Skirball, they discussed McDermott's work and career, Improbable’s work with Open Space Technology, and McDermott’s long-term collaborations with Philip Glass.

a silhouette of a puppet head with a tiny person in a boat rowing through where the brain should be.
Artists and Scholars Consider the Intersection of Puppetry with Other Disciplines and Ideas
Video

Artists and Scholars Consider the Intersection of Puppetry with Other Disciplines and Ideas

The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppet Symposium

Saturday 21 January and Saturday 28 January 2023
United States

The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium brings together practicing festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas. In Van Volkenburg’s honor, the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival presents four discussions featuring festival artists and key topics from the works presented in the festival.

event poster for puppets in the green mountains festival 2022.
Puppets in the Green Mountains 2022
Video

Puppets in the Green Mountains 2022

Access Through The Arts Panel Discussions Exploring the Theme of Roots and Wings

Saturday 10 September - Sunday 18 September 2022
United States

Sandglass Theater presented events from the Puppets in the Green Mountains Festival 2022 livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 10 September, Saturday 17 September, and Sunday 18 September 2022.

A puppeteer stands surrounded by large marionette puppets.
Coffeehouse Chronicles #165: Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre
Video

Coffeehouse Chronicles #165: Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre

Part Artist Portrait, Part History Lesson, and Part Community Forum, Coffeehouse Chronicles Takes an Intimate Look at the Development of Downtown Theatre in New York City

Saturday 28 May 2022
New York City

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club presented Coffeehouse Chronicles #165: Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 28 May 2022 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

A large crowd walks alongside a life-sized internally controlled puppet.
Walk with Amal: The Five-Thousand-Mile-Long Theatrical Provocation
Essay

Walk with Amal: The Five-Thousand-Mile-Long Theatrical Provocation

7 February 2022

verity healey shares the journey and impact of Walk with Amal, an interactive, artistic project that centered on a large puppet refugee girl travelling through Europe.

Drawn horseshoe crab that reads "We are all Invited" on its back.
Crabs as Ancestors, Cardboard as Collaborator
Essay

Crabs as Ancestors, Cardboard as Collaborator

31 January 2022

Can a new holiday hatch humans closer to freedom? Eli Nixon's homage proposal messes with time, place, and puppets towards building inter- and intra-species solidarities.

A puppet booth with two puppets in the window.
The Brutalities of Mr. Punch
Essay

The Brutalities of Mr. Punch

27 January 2022

Leda Farrow considers the history, legacy, and symbolic potential of Mr. Punch, a hand puppet characterized by his violent acts.

Several performers with large puppets standing in a field.
Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet
Essay

Ground Lessons: Performing with the Potato People at Bread and Puppet

26 January 2022

Denise Rogers Valenzuela shares the way that learning to perform improvised crowd scenes with large, flat puppets—called naked population puppets or potato people—encourages an embodied practice that resists individualism.

Several people sitting in a field watching a puppet show.
Bringing Trouble: An Account of a Travelling Bicycle Puppet Show
Essay

Bringing Trouble: An Account of a Travelling Bicycle Puppet Show

25 January 2022

In 2021, Ian McFarlane and Laura Stinson of North Barn Theatre launched into a bicycle tour that brought a puppet circus to rural communities across Nova Scotia. They discuss the creation and performance of their show, which joyously embraced troublemaking as a path to activism.

Two people wearing costumes and holding signs that say "Bush" and "World".
Creating Puppet Solidarities
Essay

Creating Puppet Solidarities

24 January 2022

Sarah Plummer kicks off the puppet series by introducing the series contributors and exploring the way their work highlights puppetry’s capacity to form solidarities among humans and nonhumans.

a puppet of frederick douglass sits on a bench reading a newspaper.
The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium
Video

The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium

Bringing together practicing Festival artists with scholars to consider the intersection of puppetry with other disciplines and ideas

Saturday 22 and Saturday 29 January 2022
Chicago, Illinois

The 2022 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and The School of the Art Institute Chicago presented The Ellen Van Volkenburg Puppetry Symposium livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Saturday 22 January and Saturday 29 January 2022.

Giant puppet carried by a group of people outside in front of a mountain.
SEGAL TALKS: Basil Jones (South Africa)
Video

SEGAL TALKS: Basil Jones (South Africa)

A Conversation about The Walk.

Wednesday 17 November 2021
Virtual

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presented SEGAL TALKS, about curating, producing and presenting theatre and performance in the time of corona with Basil Jones (South Africa), livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Wednesday 17 November 2021 at 9 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 11 a.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 12 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 17:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 18:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

A large, titled puppet depiction of the American designer Robert Moses with two tiny brown-skinned puppets in front.
Puppets Are Immigrants Too
Essay

Puppets Are Immigrants Too

How New York City Turned Ancient Traditions into Cutting-Edge Art

24 August 2021

Jonathan Mandell shares his experience at New York City’s first-ever official Puppet Week.

black background with white text taylor talks above black and white portraits of artists.
Taylor Talks: HERE Resident Artists talk art & process with Taylor Mac
Video

Taylor Talks: HERE Resident Artists talk art & process with Taylor Mac

Episode 10: Maiko Kikuchi and Spencer Lott

Tuesday 1 June 2021
United States

HERE presented Taylor Talks: Episode 10 with Maiko Kikuchi and Spencer Lott livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 1 June 2021 at 10 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

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.

youtube screenshot
a farm for my mother, a farm for meme
Essay

a farm for my mother, a farm for meme

21 December 2020

Priscilla Solis Ybarra reflects on her experience watching Virginia Grise’s a farm for meme at home, during the pandemic, with her eighty-two-year-old mother whose life shares parallels with the story in the play.

two actors' shadows onstage
Art as a Force for Good
Essay

Art as a Force for Good

A Conversation with Malaysian Theatre Artist Sabera Shaik

17 November 2020

Jennifer Rodrigo sits down in conversation with Sabera Shaik, the artistic director of Malaysia’s Masakini Theatre Company, about the country’s fragmented arts community, shadow theatre, and more.