Paul McPharlin is one of the 20th century's most important contributors to the art of puppetry. Over a period of nine years he created some 20 productions with marionettes, rod puppets, hand puppets and shadow figures. He was also a prolific writer whose technical, theoretical and historical works contributed significantly to a puppetry revival. His book The Puppet Theatre in America is considered the definitive history of American puppetry. Though shy and aloof, McPharlin was also energetic. He had an ability to bring people together and used this knack to found a national puppetry organization, Puppeteers of America. Besides the author's extensive research on McPharlin and puppetry, the book draws on significant contributions from McPharlin's wife, puppeteer and author Marjorie Batchelder McPharlin, who allowed the use of her 18-year correspondence with Paul in the creation of the book. Chapters take the reader through McPharlin's childhood as a loner in Detroit, his maturation and education in New York, and his early, erratic and often unsuccessful attempts at making a living. His puppeteering years, 1929 to 1937, are detailed, as are the later years that saw him first working for the WPA and then being drafted into the army to serve in World War II at age 38. He continued making important contributions to the art of puppetry until a brain tumor took his life at age 45 in 1948. Appendices present two of McPharlin's plays, The Barn at Bethlehem: A Christmas Play and Punch's Circus. Another appendix details puppetry imprints, including yearbooks, plays, handbooks, worksheets and books. A fourth lists Paul McPharlin's Puppeteers, members of the Marionette Fellowship of Detroit.

Puppetry has become a significant force in contemporary theatre and thousands of puppets from various cultures and time periods have been collected by scholars, enthusiasts, and curators, who wisely realized that these material images can teach us much about the societies for which they were created. This book consists of essays by the curators of the most significant puppet collections in the United States and by leading scholars in the field. In addition to the descriptive and analytical essays on the collections, the book includes an overview of American puppetry today, a history of puppetry in the United States, and essays on the theater of Julie Taymor, the Jim Henson Company, Howdy Doody's custody case, puppet conservation, and the development of virtual performance space. The fourteen collections discussed include those of the Smithsonian Institution, the Harvard University Theatre Collection, the Brander Matthews Collection at Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. Appendices provide a listing of additional puppetry collections and a filmography of puppetry at the New York Public Library Donnell Media Center. The work concludes with a bibliography and index and is illustrated with many beautiful photographs of puppeteers and puppets on display and in performance.

Puppetry Originated In India And Travelled Across The Seven Seas To The Eastern And Western World As Vouched By Many Scholars. Puppets Dated Back To A Period Well Before Bharata S Natya Shastra And Have Continued Unabated Throughout The Centuries In Almost All Indian States. Puppetry Is One Enduring Form, Which Has Entertained Masses And Educated People. The Famous Puppeteers Of Rajasthan Are Really Acrobats, Who Only Put On Puppet Shows When They Move Out Of Villages. These And A Thousand Other Scintillating Facts Come Out Of This Exciting Book For The Reader S Entertainment And Elucidation. Puppets Are By No Means For Only Children, -- As The Puppeteers Of Orissa Sing And Dance About The Romantic Love Of Radha And Krishna, And Keralan Puppets Narrate Kathakali Stories In The Same Make-Up And Costumes.The Book Aims At Giving A Connected Account Of The Indian Puppets: Their Variety, Their Multiple Functions, Their Craft, Their Animation And Their Connections With Other Related Arts In Five Separate Parts. The Book Also Contains For The First Time In Any Book On Puppetry -- Four Important Appendices: Museums In India Containing Puppets, Directory Of Indian Puppeteers, Global Bibliography On Puppets And A Relevant Glossary. The World Of Indian Puppets Is Seen In Vivid Colours With Scores Of Coloured Photographs And Many Line-Drawings And Half-Tone Pictures --- In Their Many-Sided Splendour: Variety Of The Glove, Rod, String, Shadow, And Human Puppets And A Myriad Background Stories Of The Puppet-Masters And Their Imaginative Landscape Of Free Creativity.