Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2021 - 44

BOOK REVIEWS CATHERINE MANTOOTH, EDITOR
These varied experiences help inform the
diversity of puppet styles this book presents.
The
book begins with a history of
puppets throughout the world. Though
this introduction may seem brief, the following
chapters provide a more detailed
history of different types of puppets. Lambeth
has distilled the most common types
of puppets into six major categories: rod
puppets, hand puppets, marionettes or
string puppets, parade/pageant puppets,
shadow puppets, and character costumes/
mascots.
The bulk of the book devotes one
Introduction to Puppetry Arts
By Cheralyn Lambeth.
Routledge Publishing 2019, 56 pages
Hardcover, $128; Paperback, $37.56; eBook,
$42.25
Reviewed by Eric Hart
I have built puppets before, but I am not
a puppeteer. It can be tricky to explain the
difference. A puppeteer performs with the
puppet they create, and the performance
is often centered around the puppet. Puppets
have long had a symbiotic relationship
with live theatre. While specialized
puppets often call for experienced puppeteers
to be added to the production team,
as seen in War Horse or The Lion King,
for many shows the responsibility for simple
puppets falls on the shoulders of the
existing production team. Sometimes it
falls to props, sometimes to costumes, but
often, a mix of many departments creates
the puppets.
Cheralyn Lambeth has written a
book for those who tread the same fine
line as me. I am not a puppeteer, but I am
interested in puppets and often need to
construct them. Introduction to Puppetry
Arts introduces the theatre practitioner
to several varieties of puppets, along with
their history and construction.
Lambeth has a great background for
this book, having worked on puppets for
Muppet Christmas Carol, the television
show Dinosaurs!, and mascot costumes
for the Carolina Panthers NFL team.
44 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | FALL 2021
chapter to each of these categories. Each
chapter begins with a short history, starting
with the birth of that type of puppet and
continuing up to the present day. Lambeth
uses a wealth of examples, so readers
are bound to recognize at least one of the
puppets in each chapter. The second part
of each chapter deals with construction
techniques and other technical aspects of
every puppet. This includes the materials
used, the structure underneath, and some
of the variations that the form can take.
The chapters on rod puppets, hand
puppets, marionettes, and shadow puppets
also include step-by-step illustrated
instructions to construct a simple example
of those kinds of puppets.
The projects presented are well within
the grasp of university and high school
students and can be completed with basic
materials; a school or theatre may already
have most of the materials on hand. Those
who already possess some puppet-building
experience may find the projects a bit
basic. This book is an introduction, after
all, and not a complete guide.
In the introduction, Lambeth writes
about how she created a university course
on Introduction to Puppetry, and this book
feels like a result of that class. I can easily
see it being used as a guide for similar
classes that introduce puppets to theatre
practitioners. There are many productions
that are not rooted in any strict tradition
of puppetry, but rather use a blend
of techniques for a few simple puppets to
add to the show.
Many existing books on puppetry are
either focused on a specific puppet artist
or the construction of a particular type of
puppet. They may cover some of the same
information on construction and forms as
this book, but they also delve into the puppet
stage, lighting, performance, and other
aspects a puppet maker may not necessarily
need. A student who wants to integrate
some puppetry into other elements
of stagecraft would need to sift through
several books to pull out anything useful.
In the same vein, books on the history
of puppets may be geared more toward
scholars and historians rather than practitioners.
They are typically much larger
surveys or encyclopedias that cover a vast
array of puppet types. Obviously, if one
wanted to explore, say, authentic Czech
marionettes, one would need a more indepth
book. But if a student wanted to experiment
with the general form of string
puppets, then a chapter in this book may
be all they need. This book attempts to
balance the line between theory and practice,
while also creating a guide geared toward
a stagecraft practitioner.
In many ways, I wish this book would
go into more detail about different kinds
of puppets or include a few more projects,
but then it may no longer be an " introduction. "
I also felt that the puppet histories
presented in each chapter have a bit of repetition
with the overall history of puppetry
outlined in the first chapter. The color photographs,
however, are very clear, appropriate,
and informative. On the whole, the
book serves as a great gateway for stagecraft
students to quickly get up to speed on
the kinds of puppets they are most likely to
encounter or need to produce.
Eric Hart is a professor of stage properties at
the University of North Carolina School of the
Arts and a member of the Society of Properties
Artisan Managers. He has built props for
numerous theatres on and off Broadway, for
films, and for retail displays. He holds an MFA
from the Ohio University School of Theater.
Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2021
