Romans and Italians have a loooong history of puppets. France had them in the 1300 and it is thought that monks and priests used puppets to spread Bible stories to the masses
But in Britain, puppets really came on the scene between 1500 to 1700
Wealthy households got higher quality shows. Travelling shows were more like the Punch and Judy youtube show I’ve posted.
High pitched voice for punch spoken through a tin cone and wildly inappropriate behavior by Punch.
Earliest in London
puppeteers made their living by performing all over the country.
Most popular were great exchanges of batinado (beatings with a stick) and a very loose plot.
1561 the Duchess of Suffolk recorded paying ‘two men who played upon the puppets’
According to a 17th century poem by Samuel Butler, fireworks were used with puppet plays including the devil to show the dangers of hellfire.
By the 18th century, puppet shows in London were fashionable adult entertainment.
In 1710 Martin Powell’s puppets from Dublin opened a theater in London.
Founder and current director, Jean-Luc Courcoult teamed up with some musicians and actors to start his extraordinary open-air theatre show in the French city of Aix-en-Provence.
Each giant, built with light and flexible poplar wood,
Controlled on a system of hydraulic pulleys and levers
By 20 to 40 members of the Royal de Luxe troupe, called Lilliputians.
Members of the company come from all walks of life, seduced by Courcoult’s wizardry, they are inventors, poets, stuntmen, theatre technicians and scrap-dealers, most of whom move between a technical and performance role.
