Marionettes, masks and shadows — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Marionettes, masks and shadows
John Stuart Mill · en
Sometimes, puppets must appear to assist each other. For instance, when
Myles was thrown on the ground by the bully, Walter Blunt, Gascoigne,
his friend, got down on one knee beside him, threw his arm around his
shoulders, and apparently helped him to rise.
There are certain little tricks which are very effective, such as
crying, or dropping off to sleep and snoring. In the _Childhood of David
Copperfield_, Mrs. Gummage frequently lifted her apron to her eyes and
wept. As one corner of her apron was sewed to her hand, this was an easy
thing to do. Can you see her, shoulders shaking, her apron to her eyes,
sniffling, “I am a lone, lorn critter and everything goes contrary with
me?”
In the illustration, page 130, you can see how a puppet may appear to
toss a ball. This is the way it was done. One puppeteer held the Moor’s
controller while his assistant held the end of a string attached to the
ball. Through practice, these puppeteers were able to make the Moor’s
hand and the ball rise at the same moment, thereby giving the impression
that the Moor tossed the ball. When the Moor stopped playing with the
ball, the puppeteer who held the string attached to the ball let it fall
to the stage. The audience felt that the Moor was tired of playing and
had tossed the ball aside.
In this same ballet, an organ grinder appeared. The handle of the organ
was fastened to one of his hands. When the puppeteer pulled the hand
string up and down in time with the music, it seemed to the audience
that the organ was really being played. A marionette can be made to play
a flute. The flute is fastened in one hand, and a string from the flute
passed through the mouth of the marionette up through the top of its
head to the controller. When the puppeteer pulls the flute string, the
flute is raised to the mouth of the marionette.
All these effects and many others can be accomplished when you
understand the manipulation of your strings. Sometimes you may wish to
use birds, bees, butterflies, or flying dragons. If you keep the wings
in constant motion you can make your audience believe that these winged
creatures are really flying. Of course, bees and butterflies move their
wings more rapidly than birds and dragons. The more you observe flying
birds, the better you will be able to imitate them.
You have made the puppet look the part, now see that it acts the part.
You have made your hero look like a hero, now see that he acts like a
hero. You made the king look like a king. Can you make him act like a
king?
The third step in your training as a puppeteer comes when you have
acquired enough skill to manage your puppet. Then you are ready to join
your fellow puppeteers on the bridge. At first you will probably feel
that the bridge is not large enough for you alone, not to mention four
or five others. Experience will show you, however, that you can do a
great deal in a very small space. This means good management and
practice and consideration for your fellow puppeteers.