Puppets have existed in one form or another in almost every culture throughout the history of man. In Puppetry: A World History, Eileen Blumenthal provides a comprehensive overview of the history and technique of puppetry and examines in depth and detail the unique nature and abilities of puppets and the countless roles they have played in human societies across the globe for thousands of years. Blumenthal draws examples from an astonishing array of puppeteers and performances, as well as works of art and historical artifacts to provide readers with a comprehensive view of the world of constructed actors and the eclectic, and often eccentric, artists who created them. From bunraku to Miss Piggy, from the shadow puppets of Java to Howdy Doody, from African marionettes with outsize genitalia to sweet and loveable Lamb Chop, from Senor Wences's famous hand (literally) puppet to the minimalism of Russian puppet master Sergei Obraztsov.

Puppets & Puppet Theatre is essential reading for everyone interested in making and performing with puppets. It concentrates on designing, making and performing with the main types of puppet, and is extensively illustrated in full colour throughout.Topics covered include: nature and heritage of puppet theatre; the anatomy of a puppet, its design and structure; materials and methods for sculpting, modelling and casting; step-by-step instructions for making glove, hand, rod and shadow puppets & marionettes; puppet control and manipulation; staging principles, stage and scenery design; principles of sound & lighting and finally, organisation of a show.

Introduces the history of puppetry and gives instructions for making various types of puppets, creating stage sets, and producing plays.

Offers the history of puppets as a form of entertainment from around the world, providing instructions for making puppets from Japan, India, and Burma.

In one of those rare books that allows us to see the world not as we've never seen it before, but as we see it daily without knowing, Victoria Nelson illuminates the deep but hidden attraction the supernatural still holds for a secular mainstream culture that forced the transcendental underground and firmly displaced wonder and awe with the forces of reason, materialism, and science. In a backward look at an era now drawing to a close, The Secret Life of Puppets describes a curious reversal in the roles of art and religion: where art and literature once took their content from religion, we came increasingly to seek religion, covertly, through art and entertainment. In a tour of Western culture that is at once exhilarating and alarming, Nelson shows us the distorted forms in which the spiritual resurfaced in high art but also, strikingly, in the mass culture of puppets, horror-fantasy literature, and cyborgs: from the works of Kleist, Poe, Musil, and Lovecraft to Philip K. Dick and virtual reality simulations. At the end of the millennium, discarding a convention of the demonized grotesque that endured three hundred years, a Demiurgic consciousness shaped in Late Antiquity is emerging anew to re-divinize the human as artists like Lars von Trier and Will Self reinvent Expressionism in forms familiar to our pre-Reformation ancestors. Here as never before, we see how pervasively but unwittingly, consuming art forms of the fantastic, we allow ourselves to believe.

Dressing the Naked Hand is for anyone interested in the art of puppetry. Teachers, amateurs, and even professionals will find new ideas and inspiration in the designs created by this trio of puppet enthusiasts. Includes trade secrets, tips, and how-to’s on puppetry unlike anything that has been published before. Puppets aren't just for looking at; they are for doing, and as we found out, they have a mind of their own. This one-of-a-kind how-to is not only an invaluable resource for the puppet artist, but a joy to read. From tongue-in-cheek humor to outright laugh-out-loud hijinks, this book teaches and tells the real story—from a puppet’s point of view. And, while the full-color and detailed how-to and finished puppet illustrations give you most of what you need, if you choose to read the text, well . . . it’s worth your time.