What types of puppetry are performed in Australia?
(This is a broad look at what kinds of puppetry is performed in this country; if you’re looking for specific shows and companies, visit this article instead. You may also be looking for the list of different puppet types and their explanations of what they are)
When people think of puppetry, they assume that there is a particular type that is native to Australia - Europe is home to the glove puppet and marionette, Asia to the shadow puppet, America the muppet - surely there is one that represents Australia.
Well, that assumption is wrong. Because Australia is a relatively ‘new’ country, in terms of its culture, there is no puppet type (click on puppet type for a list of all the puppets in existence around the world) that is representative of the puppetry scene here.
If we speak in terms of the local Indigenous culture, puppetry doesn’t seem represented at all. No doubt there were uses of hand shadow puppetry, totems, and other such items, but generally, Indigenous Australian culture focuses more on dance and storytelling than on puppetry.
If we’re speaking in terms of colonial culture - that is, brought over by the English - there would have been a reliance on the ‘old forms’ of puppetry traditionally performed back home… which is glove puppet, marionette, and even influences of the Greek or French shadow puppetry. But much of the initial stages of theatre in this country relied on plain old stage shows, where puppetry would have been for children, street theatre, and infrequently used.
But this brings us to the next phase of Aussie history: an influx of other nationalities. Over the years, Asian people of all different cultures and countries have arrived, and brought their own art forms. Additionally, world wars have seen Europeans emigrate, and bring over an even larger number of styles. This melting pot provides Australia a unique standing point: as our country is ‘new’ in culture compared to other countries, this influx of different people allows a range of ideas, techniques, and traditions to amalgamate.
Modern Australian puppetry, therefore, is not ‘one’ thing. It is a mesh of different things. One of our best known exported puppetry shows… (and I hate to give them more publicity)… is Puppetry of the Penis (yes, it is what you think it is). Some of the best puppeteers and makers have worked on animatronics for various movies and TV shows. The Wiggles, the highest paid performers in Australia, feature some great costume puppets. Rod puppets are extremely popular, and have featured in a range of performances from Gulliver’s Travels to community-created productions. Object theatre (the use of found puppets or random objects) is highly popular among the newer generation of puppeteers. And of course, Richard Bradshaw’s shadow puppetry is known the world over.
It would be easy to assume that Australia’s puppetry scene is small and for kids only, and features no innovative use of styles, materials, designs, or stories: you’d be wrong. Attend the next puppet festival local to you (a list of puppetry festivals in Australia) - you may find a range of puppets and performances that bend your concept of what puppetry is… and what Australian puppetry represents.
… This post AKA Types of puppets from Australia
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