I haven't really seen a ton of puppetry performances but of the ones I've seen I do have a favorite. I assume most everyone has seen the movie version of The Sound of Music. They have a puppetry performance in that movie where they perform "The Lonely Goatherd." It is the cutest puppet show ever and everytime I watch it I find myself laughing.
I suppose to some extent it would be easy to keep track of the fact that those puppets aren't real and are being manned by people considering every few shots they show the actors manipulating them. However, they added quaint detail movement to the puppets that would easily help you lose yourself in the show. They have eyes shfting back and forth and batting eyelashes as if the lover puppets were really flirting, goat tails wagging as if they really were happy as clams, and the eye brows of the clarinetist moving up and down as if he really means the music he's playing. Not only are these details comical but they help relay the different personalities of the characters. The clarinetist really enjoys his music, it makes him happy, this convey through the subtle movement of hs eyebrows up and down. The lovers really desire love because they are flirting up to the wazoo with ther batting eylashes.All these little details make the puppets seem more real.
I think if the show would've been live rather than in a movie, it would've been more amazing. And I'm sure the puppets would come to life even easier. The great thing about theatre is that it's live and there is this relationship between the audience and it's actors. The performers get feed back from the audience and the audience gets to feel like they're apart of something, that they are interacting with the performers. If the puppet show was live then the puppets would feel more alive. The audience easily gets lost in this audience/performer relationship and believes the puppets to be like actors. This would be especially true for comical shows.
None-the-less, I enjoyed "The Lonely Goatherd" and found myself lost in the puppet's show. Yes I meant to put puppet's show instead of puppet show. When they come to life it's their show, they make it real for us.
Watch it for yourself, ten bucks says you'll love it. :-D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWaMJ331oYM
What's funny is that once one does a production of The Sound Of Music, all magic from that scene goes out of it. It is a scene fraught with tangled strings and off dance steps. The movie version was actually performed by a professional puppet opera company (if I recall), which probably made recording it a snap. Also, I heard of a production done of TSoM a few years ago that was completely performed by life-sized marionettes. I wonder how the Lonely Goatherd was staged. Real people being "performed" by the marionettes? Whoa... Out there thought...
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