PUPPETRY FOR
BEGINNERS
PUPPETRY FOR
BEGINNERS By
ARTHUR B. ALLEN
WELLS GARDNER, DARTON & CO., LTD. REDHILL SURREY
PUPPETRY FOR BEGINNERS First Published in this Series i 947 * By WELLS GARDNER, DARTON & CO., LTD., 49, Brighton Road, Redhill, Surrey
Printed and Bound in Great Britain by Love & Malcomson Ltd., Redhill, Surrey ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A graded sequence in puppet work, especially designed for use in schools, giving a sound start to school or home circle in puppet work.
The
art of making simple puppets, stage and scenery, of producing simple puppet plays, is thoroughly examined.
CONTENTS STAGE ONE CHAP.
PAGE
I.
W H YPUPPETRY ?
II.
T H ESIGNIFICANCE
III.
H O WT O M A K E
IV.
SIMPLE
V. VI.
I O F PUPPETRY
A G L O V E
P U P P E T
.
.
.
.
.
.
5 1
ROD PUPPETS
15
VARIOUS FORMS O F CUT-OUTS A PUPPET FIGURE
0
.
.
.
.
2 1
IN A PLASTIC MATERIAL
.
3 2
VII.
PUPPETS
FROM
WASTE
.
.
.
.
.
3 4
VIII.
SCENERY
A N D DESIGN
.
.
.
.
.
3 9
IX.
A BRIEF
X. xi.
HISTORY
T H E PUPPET Nemo.—A
O FPUPPETRY
.
.
.
4 6
TEACHES
5 1
PUPPET PLAY
55^
STAGE TWO CHAP. 1.
PAGE THE P U P P E T FAMILY IN TERMS OF MANIPULATION, SHAPE A N D M O V E M E N T .
II.
PUPPET
.
IV.
A SIMPLE
JOINTED
PUPPET
H O W T OMAKE
VI.
CASTING
VII.
SCENERY
ix.
.
.
63 77
A SIMPLE
VIII
.
JUMPING-JACK PUPPETS
III.
V.
.
.
A PUPPET
A PUPPET
HEAD .
.
.
.
.
.
HEAD .
. .
. .
. .
8 l .
8 3
.
8 6
.
9 1
A N D DESIGN
9 4
T Y P E S O FT H E A T R E S Ecce Signum.—A SIMPLE PUPPET PLAY
vii
1 0 1
.
.
105
STAGE THREE
'
CHAP. I. II. III.
PAGE H O W TO BEGIN
115
T H E POINTS OF A PUPPET
.
.
H O W TO MAKE A P U P P E T HEAD THE
HEAD
. .
.
.
(a)
CARVING
(b)
PUPPET HEAD FROM PAPER PULP
.
V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII.
120 .
.
(c) P U P P E T H E A D F R O M W A L L A R T . IV.
.
.
124 1 2 4
.
.
131
.
.
I37
H O WTO MAKE T H E ARMS
.
.
.
.
I40
H O WTO MAKE T H E HANDS
.
.
.
.
I42
H O WTO MAKE T H E FEET A N D LEGS .
.
HOW TO MAKE T H E BODY O F T H E PUPPET CONTROLS
.
.
.
.
STORING T H E PUPPET
.
.
.
. .
.
I45
.
I49
. .
151 .
158
T H E STAGE PARTS O F A STAGE
159 .
.
.
.
.
.
162
LIGHTING
164
XIII.
PROPORTIONS O F T H E HUMAN BODY .
XIV.
The Sacred Flame.—A SIMPLE PUPPET PLAY
VUi
. . . .
165
.
167
PUPPETRY FOR BEGINNERS STAGE ONE
CHAPTER ONE WHY PUPPETRY ?
years ago puppetry was considered to be childish. The idea of grown-ups playing with dolls was taken as being the first stage to incarceration in a lunatic asylum. That phase has passed. It is true that there are people who still think it regrettable that adults should spend their time among these childish things. But then there are still people at liberty who think that women should remain in the home, that men only should have the vote and that a cocktail is a collection of birds' feathers. These things will be until the end of time. We must accept them, and feel sorry for them, for their ignorance has passed out of the blissful stage and has reached the angle of the idiotic. We have to deal with people who do not believe as these idiots do. We have to deal with an ever-increasing crowd of folk who see in the Model Theatre all the fun of the fair. We have to deal with the rank and file of a popular movement. Puppetry has become a popular movement. A national movement. More than that even : puppetry has become an international movement. It will be in the irony of things if, after having castigated all politicians as mere puppets, the puppet theatre achieves that SOME
$
P U P P E T R Y
F O R
B E G I N N E R S
desirable interrelationship of good will which the politicians so singularly have failed to give us. It is well within the realms of possibility, for if tennis balls can precipitate a war, as once they did, then puppets can well bring about a world peace. Why not ? What are puppets ? Puppets are little figures. Some are flat. Some are round. And some are jointed. Some work with rods. Some are controlled by strings. All are expressive of some human emotion or passion. All are reflective of some philosophy. Even of some antisophy. All reflect some mood, gay, bebonair, unhappy, despondent. The puppet is always positive. One cannot imagine a negative puppet. A puppet has a personality. I made a puppet once who could act supremely well, when he chose. When the mood was upon him and he did not choose to act supremely well, he developed a slipping pelvis and his actions were more Rabelaisan than Rabelais' own stories 1 I called him Gussie. It seemed to fit. . . . A puppet has a personality, never question that. If you do so you will find him self-assertive and convincing in spite of yourself. I began this Introduction with the question, Why puppetry ? I feel very tempted to ask, why not ? And why not indeed ? A puppet is a little figure made by hands, imbued with a mischievous personality. Make a puppet and you make a friend. Make several puppets and you possess your own repertory company. Your own repertory company. Think of it.
P U P P E T R Y
F O R B E G I N N E R S
3
You possess a group of actors and actresses who are— " The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historicalpastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historicalpastoral, scene individable, or poem unlimited : Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For the law of writ and of liberty these are the only men "—to quote our old and verbose friend and stable-philosopher, Polonius. Your own repertory company. You can put on your own plays, your favourite plays. You have all had the secret wish to see once again a play you saw long ago. Theatres have a reluctance in the staging of past plays, unless they are long past. So you may not see that play again. If, however, you can get the script you can produce your own version of that play. And you will enjoy doing so even more than you enjoyed the original production. Why? Because it is your own production. The puppet theatre brings the professional theatre right into your own house, right up to your own fireside. It is better than having your home-cinema. In the home-cinema you have nothing to do save plug into the electric point and let the wheels revolve and pray hard that the fuses will not blow out on you ! Your own theatre gives you hours of pleasurable occupation building the theatre, fixing the lighting, painting and designing the scenery and the costumes, cutting, carving, shaping, humanising the puppets, selecting the play, rehearsing the play, and then—then producing the play. And it is " All me own work, Mum ! All done by hand ! "
4
PUPPETRY
FOR
BEGINNERS
Literature, art, music, woodwork, needlework, metal work, electricity, all link hands and make of your work an artistic entity, an individual creation, a piece of yourself. Why puppetry ? Why not, indeed. It is the world of Lilliput with yourself as king. So, indeed, why not ?