Information about the authors:
Alexander E. Gref
Alexander E. Gref, PhD in Chemistry, Educational Specialist, State-funded Institution of Additional Education Creativity Center “Na Vadkovskom”, Vadkovskii Lane, 3, 127055 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2272-8866
E-mail:
Daria S. Penskaya
Daria S. Penskaya, PhD in Culturology, Educational Specialist, State-funded Institution of Additional Education Creativity Center “Na Vadkovskom”, Vadkovskii Lane, 3, 127055 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7804-6573
E-mail:
Elena A. Slonimskaya
Elena A. Slonimskaya, Educational Specialist, State-funded Institution of Additional Education Creativity Center “Na Vadkovskom”, Vadkovskii Lane, 3, 127055 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8696-2271
E-mail:
Abstract:
The paper investigates the simplest folk puppets: “marionettes à la planchette”, American “limberjack”, toe / foot theatre from Africa, Iranian “teke”, Afghan “buz-bazi”, “orteke” from Kazakhstan and Bulgarian “theatre on a chest”. For the first time these puppets are considered as relatives first and as a unique phenomenon of the proto-theatre second. For each type the construction, the very organisation of the show as well as the evolution from the first evidences to our days are described. As a sort of hypothesis, it is proposed that all these puppets possess the traits of comical. As for the first evidence of the marionettes à la planchette — the renowned image of the fighting knight-puppets from the “Hortus Deliciarum” by Herrad of Landsberg — two possible variants of the construction are proposed. The summary points out the crucial features of the puppets mentioned: all of them move in a sporadic way and the way they move emulates the mechanistic movement. Their movement is guided by the puppeteer, who sings or plays some musical instrument, the puppets thus move following the beat of the music.