Puppetry as discussed by John Bell and Stephen Kaplin

John Bell’s “Puppet’s, Masks, and Performing Objects at the End of the Century” is a wonderful resource collectively introducing the writers who have discussed “performing objects” (borrowing Frank Proschan’s term) from many countries throughout the world over the last century. Bell is happy to argue that the field of performing objects has remained all but “invisible” up until the last century because there has been little critically discussed about performing objects, although they have been an important part of theatre and performance since the Greek Drama. I am a new student to this field, so I feel like I cannot disagree and provide other examples of essays written about these objects that he has not mentioned. However, I feel like Bell is trying to add to the critical discussion about these objects as they occur in theatre, ritual and performance attempting to reveal the importance of these objects as cultural links through tradition. I agree with Bell that these objects are worthy of theoretical consideration here in the Americas as they have been considered in Europe. In “A Puppet Tree,” Stephen Kaplin remarks that “more books get published yearly on soap operas than on puppetry.” Kaplin’s discussion introduces us to many different forms of popular puppetry in the Americas. His exuberant voice examines popular puppetry and breaks down the puppet/performer relationship quantifiable by distance. By specifically defining these relationships, Kaplin is creating a system of comparing the objects and therefore, examining them critically. Whereas Bell states he wants the objects to critically examined and discussed further, Kaplin is installing a system for us to examine and discuss performing objects.

I feel like these two writings complement each other nicely because we have examples of writings that discuss performing objects and a text that nicely illustrates the objects and breaks them down, allowing us to create our own discussion about them.

On a side note, I’ve seen some of the performances that Kaplin mentions, and they are amazing! I was part of a Bread and Puppet Parade in Richmond, Virginia and I have also seen Julie Taymor’s The Lion King in London, and they were both spectacular. The Bread and Puppet Parade I saw was on Halloween in 2007 and I am including some images here (although some are hard to see because it was so dark).