Hand Puppet and Marionette Traditions in Europe
In the streets of London, Judy throws herself on Punch and hammers him with a stick. In a park in Lyon, Guignol rebounds to deal the furious policeman a good, hard smack! In Munich and Vienna, Kasperl saves himself just in time from the crocodile who wants to snap him up. Similarly, Pulcinella in Naples, Kasparek in Prague and Petrouchka in Moscow perform their theatrical antics.

Although these characters come from different corners of Europe, they have many things in common. All are mischievous, boastful and provocative, and all are part of an important tradition: the tradition of travelling street theatre. They also share another characteristic: they are all hand puppets. Because of the way they are made, these types of puppets can easily hold an object (a practical consideration when the puppet needs to pick up a stick to hit its opponent!).

A hand-puppet show was, and still often is, performed inside a puppet booth. This structure, which hides the puppeteer, can take many forms; traditionally, however, the small size of hand puppets makes it possible to have a fairly small, portable puppet booth which folds up. This is exactly what is needed by a puppeteer who is moving from town to town to perform. Imagine a time when diversions were rare, particularly for the average person. On market day, a travelling puppeteer might arrive. Setting up his puppet booth in a public place, he would begin his show, quickly attracting a crowd of adults and children alike.

The traditional stories of these travelling puppeteers were amusing and simple, enabling the puppeteer to improvise dialogue freely, inspired by his audience and by local current events. Audiences particularly loved it when heroes defied authority, morality and the established order.

These characters still exist today. For example, performances of the Guignol are still given in certain parks in France; in Vienna, Austria, there is a permanent Kasperl theatre; and in England, Punch and Judy are still making audiences laugh. Today, however, these performances are more often aimed at children and, while still amusing, are less satirical than before. On the other hand, for the travelling street artist — musician, puppeteer or juggler — the same principles remain: travel light, know how to improvise, and adapt the show to your audience.

As for marionettes, these are, among all types of puppets, the ones best able to imitate humans, because they have both arms and legs. Performances featuring marionettes thus often strive to feature the most realistic human movement possible.

In Europe, towards the end of the seventeenth century, permanent theatres were built, in which marionettes performed pieces taken from the world of live theatre, opera and ballet. During this period, in contrast with hand puppets, marionettes were more often associated with audiences that were aristocratic or middle class.

Today, marionettes are used somewhat less often than before, although many marionette theatre companies still exist, and many puppeteers continue to use marionettes to create their shows.

For example, in Austria, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre has had, since 1913, a permanent theatre, in which marionettes bring operas and ballets to life. These performances are aimed at adults, and are also a lovely way to introduce children to the world of opera.

In the Czech Republic, the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre presents some of its marionette performances for children, and others for adults. Spejbl and Hurvínek, the two heroes of this theatre, were created in the 1920s, and are famous characters. During the Second World War, under Nazi occupation, their creator Josef Skupa participated — as did many other Czech puppeteers — in the national resistance movement, giving illegal performances of a political nature.

Puppet Theatre: A Recognized Art Form in Eastern Europe
If Czech puppeteers were able to make their voices heard during the Second World War, it was because, among other things, the art of puppetry has always occupied an important place in their culture. One of the traditional forms is the theatre of rod marionettes.

During the twentieth century, Czech puppet theatre — and the puppet theatre of Eastern European countries (former Soviet republics, former Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, etc.) — experienced considerable development. In these countries, using the model of the former Soviet Union, permanent national theatres which were well equipped and subsidized by the state were established in several cities. In addition, schools and programmes specializing in the art of puppetry were developed, providing a very favourable environment for research and artistic exploration.

As far back as the 1940s, puppeteers in Eastern Europe were using rod puppets, masks and full-view manipulation. They then began experimenting with performances which combined several types of puppet, or combined live actors with puppets. All of this experimentation contributed greatly to the development of modern puppetry as we know it today.