Radical Puppetry and Protesting: Condensed

So, you know your Monet from your Picasso, this Twain from that Thoreau, and Michael-Angelo from Rodin. But do you know your Alfred Jarry from your Laurent Mourguet? I doubt it. That’s where this article comes in. It is a very short explanation of how radical puppetry developed, grew, was contained, and changed. Please take note that this is not a definitive guide for radical puppetry’s roots and much more is and will be written on the subject.

The anti-authoritarian movement of puppetry most effectively started in 16th Century Italy. The Commedia dell’arte was a well known improvisational comedy of the time. It was banned numerous times; after which it was performed in the streets of Italy. The protagonist of this play was Pulcinella, which in English was translated to Punch. The character Punch then, in the 17th century, began to develop in Europe.

In 1643 England closed all the theatres, due to their widely known anti-authoritarian stance, restoration theatre, and the plague. During this time, puppetry was seen as a way around the theater ban, because of its simple figures and (usually) small set up; which is not possible for a large scale play in the street. Out of this came Punch, a marginalized character who was known as, “The hero of the lower-classes.” As a puppet, he spit in the face of the law, God, and even death by avoiding hanging.

France was not left out of the radical puppetry scene either. By 1800, the character Guignol developed in France; Guignol was to France, as Punch was to England. Guignol shows were known for supporting democratic, populist ideals. By 1852 the French government banned improvisation of any sort. This caused death to all of the arts, but especially puppetry and improvised street plays, which were known for being the most radical because they were put on by or for the lower classes. By the 19th century radical puppeteers throughout most of Europe were being repressed by government, because of their social critiques and anti-authoritarian stances.

Even through the suppression of the arts during the 19th Century, someone subversive eventually came out of the woodwork. That someone was Alfred Jarry, an anarchist puppeteer famous for carrying a pistol, at all times, and his insane amount of bike riding throughout Paris. Jarry’s first play was Ubu Roi, it is a parody of Shakespeare’s well-known play Macbeth. In it Jarry creates Pa Ubu, whom personifies all that is idiotic and doltish within human kind. The play received instant attention, among the many reasons for this one was that the first word uttered in the play is, “Shit!” Though Jarry’s later plays would use people, his original plays were created for and carried out with puppets.

Eventually more subversive theatre would pop up during the 20th Century. In Germany it was Gerhart Hauptmann, his play “The Weavers” was made in 1893. “The Weavers” was a drama about a rebellion against the mechanisms of the Industrial Revolution. Hauptmann also carried out puppets shows cursing the Kaiser. Even though Hauptmann also did plays, he was still mainly known for his puppet shows. In Czechoslovakia it was Karel Capek in his puppet-plays against the fascist Nazi Germany, which eventually invaded Czechoslovakia. During the Nazi invasions Capek slipped his subversive ideas past the censors through allegory. An example of allegory today would be me talking about a monkey while the whole time my audience, you, would know that, in reality, I was referring to George Bush Jr. Back to Capek: Capek’s fight against these Nazi invasions in the late 1930s not only took the use of his puppetry skills, but, eventually, his life. On the day after Christmas in 1938, he died of pneumonia and, probably, a broken heart because Europe left his beloved Czechoslovakia to be raped and pillaged by Nazi Germany.

Today, when one says puppetry, two things usually come to mind: 1) The Muppet Show or 2) Pinocchio. Both of these things are the commercialized versions of puppetry, which have been turned from an anti-authoritarian, lower class movement to passive entertainment for children. But, luckily, this corporate Disney-esque puppetry has not yet monopolized the world of the puppets. From protests to radical puppetry tours, there is still a clear radicalism to puppetry. As of recent, protesters, anarchists, and others have used puppets, large and small, to add excitement and convey messages through their art. Anti-war, WTO (World Trade Organization), FTAA, and globalization protests alike have done this.

During the days of war with Iraq, quite a few street performers acted out the play by Aristophanes entitled Lysistrata (many did this play in front of governmental buildings). The simple idea behind the play is peace, peace by almost any means necessary (Sorry Malcolm, only almost). The play is about Greek women who decide to withhold sex from their husbands (the final ultimatum) to stop them from making war. Although this wasn’t a puppet play, it does show how theatre can present ideas and, even, anti-war stances throughout their plays. The irony of this all is that it is obviously not working on George Bush. Because, as we all know, he’s not getting any.

To conclude, radical puppetry at its root is an anarchic idea. An idea that we can create something on our own, that no one is more qualified than ourselves to reclaim our public spaces around us, which have become all too commercialized. It is, in its simplest form, just to do-it-yourself (d.i.y.) and not let other things or people direct your dimensions and actions in the world.
“Do-it-yourself to me is basically what my life revolves around at this point. It’s about creating my own art, my own spaces, and my own means of survival…And trying to build something meaningful and special along the way.”
-Matt from the band Latterman