A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object ? a puppet? in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or her own hands placed inside the puppet or holding it externally. Some puppet styles require puppeteers to work together as a team to create a single puppet character.
There are a wide range of styles of puppetry but whatever the style, the puppeteer's role is to manipulate the physical object in such a manner that the audience believes the object is imbued with life. In some instances the persona of the puppeteer is also an important feature.
The relationship between the puppeteer and the puppet-maker is often assumed to be similar to that between an actor and a playwright. This may be so, but one of the characteristics of puppetry is that very often the puppeteer assumes the joint roles of puppet-maker, director, designer, writer and performer. In this case a puppeteer is a more complete theatre practitioner than is the case within other theatre forms.
"Puppetry is a highly effective and dynamically creative means of exploring the richness of interpersonal communication. By its very nature, puppetry concentrates on the puppet rather than the puppeteer. This provides a safety zone for the puppeteer and allows for exploration of unlimited themes through a safe and non-threatening environment for communication." [1]
Puppetry is a live medium and this distinguishes it from animation in which animators make a puppet appear to move by using a stop motion film technique in which the puppet is moved tiny fractions between each frame.
Ronnie Burkett (Canadian puppeteer, creator of Street of Blood, Tinka's New Dress, Happy (Memory Dress Trilogy), Provenance, 10 Days on Earth, among others)
Jonathan Edward Cross a.k.a Jonny ClockWorks , Artistic Director of "The Cosmic Bicycle Theatre" and "The ClockWork Puppetry Studios" NYC www.cosmicbicycle.com
Jim Henson (1936 -1990), is one of the best known of modern recent puppeteers who with his associate Frank Oz developed The Muppets for television. Their work has entertained children for decades on television series such as Sesame Street and the adult oriented The Muppet Show. Henson and Oz also frequently worked in film, including directing and puppeteer work in the 1982 film The Dark Crystal and the 1986 film Labyrinth. Oz is also well known for his work with the puppet of Yoda in the popular Star Wars movie series and as a director of movies such as the musical Little Shop of Horrors.
Sergey Obraztsov (1901-1992), frequently cited as the father of artistic puppetry, was highly skilled in finger puppeteering, but also extended the range of the form by exposing the manipulation techniques involved.
Ramdas Padhye - Ventriloquist,Puppeteer and Puppet-Maker from India. His ventriloquist dummy Ardhavatrao, and Bunny (the rabbit that starred in the commercial Lijjat Papad) are well known on the sub-continent. His son Satyajit Padhye is also a Ventriloquist and Puppeteer who is carrying this art of Puppetry to future generations.
Pantopuck (first puppeteer on television, author of "The Magic Tower and other Plays" & "Modern Puppetry.")
Albrecht Roser German master puppetter based in Stuttgart - famous for his puppet Grandmother
Peter Schumann (b. 1934) has also been a highly influential puppeteer. Schumann formed Bread and Puppet Theatre in 1963, using puppetry as a form to campaign politically and educate socially as well as entertain. His work has also been formally experimental, and influenced a wide range of theatre practitioners including Julie Taymor.
Peter Scriven famous founding artitsic director of the Marionette Theatre of Australia - his Tintookies and Little Fella Bindi toured all over Australasia
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Image:EdgarBergenMortimerSnertStageDoorCanteen.jpg| Stage Door Canteen (1943), with puppet Mortimer Snerd.
Image:RamdaswithPuppet.jpg| Puppeteer Ramdas Padhye performing with his Puppet, India
Image:Chilidasschaf-krappweis-haffner.jpg| "Chili das Schaf" puppet from German series Chili TV and Berndivent, and its creators Tommy Krappweis and Erik Haffner
Image:Dk&grouchie.jpg| Doug Kincaid with "Kincaid Karacter" puppet "Grouchie Gator" on the set of television's "Gator Tales" (1988)
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