I find the most interesting example of puppetry can be found in the show Ubu Roi. The entirety of the show is a monumental and stalwart hallmark of puppetry in performance.
Beginning in 1888, Ubu was formed to be a show that mocked playwright Alfred Jarry's (and his classmates') physics teacher. The teacher must have been a ridiculous tyrant in practice, because the show's protagonist is anything but a protagonist. In the grandest example of an anti-hero I think I've ever encountered, Ubu parodies Shakespeare's Macbeth, Richard III, and Hamlet only with more bloodshed (metaphorically speaking), less Scottish accents, and more dirty jokes... Yeah.
The show's graphic depictions of characters being flushed down toilets, stabbed, impaled, and torn in half to death is both comedic and at the same time terrifying to think of in the scope of the real world. Due to this, Jarry's initial attempts to perform the show ended in rioting, leading to the show's close after its initial performance. Jarry revised the show, all but removing the actors and inserting puppets, specifically marionettes to be Ubu's victims. This would turn out to be the wisest move Jarry would make in reference to Ubu; the play caught on like wildfire, and has since been used as a social critique of ANY tyrannical idiot in power.
Numerous productions have been done since Jarry's death at the age of 34 (that's 1907, folks), and in fact there are two sequels that were performed, but never caught on--Ubu Cuckolded and Ubu Enchained--because they were never performed with Jarry's direction. Enclosed, you'll find the link to a live-action version of Ubu using actual actors in Commedia del'Arte masks. I hope you'll enjoy it (although, you probably won't unless you speak French. Which I don't. But I still like it. And even if you don't like it, I'll still like you. Unless you don't like it.).
Ubu Roi
Fact: I forgot to say this earlier, but Ubu's look and intense cruelty are the inspiration for the character Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.
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ReplyDeletePeople hated this show so much that it incited riots, but the mere replacement of humans with puppets as Ubu's victims turned it into a show which swept popular culture and is still produced to this day. This is a testament to the power of puppetry and its ability to take something unwatchable in its gruesome nature, and make it so we are able to appreciate and understand the message. There is something inherently artistic and stylized about puppetry (especially in a live performance setting) which allows us, the audience, to see it as theater and not "real" violence. With human actors, it is far too easy to become emotionally invested in the characters and empathize with them when they suffer or die. With puppets, no matter how much we buy into the reality of the performance, on some level we are still consciously aware that it is a puppet and thus we do not feel as much of a connection when they are harmed. This also allows for comedy to be a more prevalent tone than if it were humans. Because they are puppets and not human beings, we more readily laugh at their misfortune because they are like caricatures of humans.
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