Applied puppetry: Communities, identities, transgressions

Abstract

This editorial outlines the scope of this special issue on puppetry. The issue editors introduce articles that theorize the use of puppets for a purpose and present dialogues with practitioners working in the field. The authors emphasize the power of puppetry within contemporary cultural systems and the plethora of diverse practices comprising applied puppetry. The lively and developing field of applied puppetry is presented as involving new thinking and methods that have been adopted globally. The editorial argues that applied puppetry, as well as being a set of practices that can affect the lives of participants, is also a robust academic field. The authors hope for a reconsideration of objects in applied theatre practice generally, as a way to further understand networks in socially engaged performance practices.

Puppets Know Best

“…Puppet: an artefact; an instrument; a toy; a proxy; a metaphor; a game (Astell-Burt, 2017;Gross, 2011;Posner et al, 2014;Purcell-Gates & Smith, 2020;Torley, 2020). A channel to the spirit of play, of silliness, of breaking rules.…”

“…Within our disciplinary boundaries, we offer a critical reflexive space (Hilevaara & Orley, 2018) whereby we examine the challenges of crafting a professional scholarly identity in a pressurized context through the interventions of puppets. The puppets represent powerful artefacts which not only act as mirrors for hidden parts of the self (Gross, 2011;Purcell-Gates & Smith, 2020), they also demystify the pretentiousness of academia by speaking a different, uncensored voice. In what follows, we discuss this demystification by reflecting upon our own story of crafting a professional self, as well as by reporting on puppet-laden presentations at two academic conferences.…”