Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:51:28 -0500
From: Steve Abrams <sapuppets-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Resident Puppet Theatres


I like the term puppet theatre too. I like it a lot and I think it is
accurate

But if someone wants to call me an animator, I have no objection.
The term is full of life and soul and it harks back animism.
Steve

On Sat, Feb 13, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Mark S. Segal <segalpuppets-AT-comcast.net>wrote:

> I always liked (and use) the words Puppet Theatre.....
> Theatre is the operative word there I think and puppetry is a description.
>
> Mark S.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Hobey Ford" <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com>
> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
> Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 7:55 AM
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Resident Puppet Theatres
>
>
> > After the last couple of rounds of US elections I have thought alot about
> > words and their meanings and reality as described by the various
> > paricipants.  In the process I began to become quite sensitive to
> > advertizing.  I began an experiment to look at all ads and promotion with
> > the idea that they are mistruths or out and out lies.  Once I made the
> > shift
> > it seemed that every last ad was a lie in some significant way.  We all
> > see
> > reality differently and yet at the core of it "a rose is a rose".
> >
> > Puppetry has at its heart this very issue.  We pursuade the audience to
> > believe in  a proxy of reality.  We were the shaman in the cave
> convincing
> > our fellows that some fur and bones could come alive.  There is power in
> > this act.  Perhaps the reason puppetry holds on to this baggage of being
> > slightly mistrusted is that at its core it is a deception.  Now a host of
> > other arts and media have gotten into the act.  The supreme use of the
> > deception is politics where there actually is power and even in that
> arena
> > the word "puppet" has come along for the ride.   I don't think we will
> > ever
> > shake it at some level. The word carries so much baggage.  "Marionette"
> > doesn't seem to have the problem.  "Shadow puppet" comes right out and
> > makes
> > it even more sinister.  Of course rational human beings recognize that
> > these
> > are words.  The public seems eager to see a puppet show, but I imagine
> > they
> > must first decide "OK, which kind of puppetry is this going to be,
> > because
> > it can be so many things to different people.  So we have to use some
> > language to make it clear what we do.  Are we for adults? are we for the
> > teenie tinies,, are we a bible show at church are we presenting purely
> > entertainment or selling or teaching a message.  We all groan when we
> read
> > what the press has written to describe what we do as they earnestly try
> to
> > help us "sell "  our event.  In school we were taught to write with
> > clarity.  Keep it simple and straight forward.  Adverbs and adjectives
> are
> > essentially advertisments and thus "spinners of truth."  (puppetry by the
> > way is the verb)  This why it bothers me to spread the umbrella of the
> > word
> > too far.  It is already doing a lot of work and it  is hard enough now to
> > sort it all out as it stands.  If we want to enlighten the world about
> > puppetry of course the proof will be in the pudding, but to lure the
> > audience to the table we must use words.  We all have to maneuver around
> > the
> > the word "puppet" because it has so many connotations. "She who will not
> > be
> > named" ;o)  avoids the word preferring "theater artist".  Jim Henson
> opted
> > for a new word, "muppet".  I like the word puppet. I am not ready to
> > abandon
> > the word or give it away to other artforms, they have there own words to
> > describe what they do.  I know that it is misunderstood so I use it as
> > often
> > as possible to associate it with what I do because I believe I will be an
> > advocate if people like what they see.  They will say "I saw a great
> > puppet
> > show today" and we will chip away at the odd connotations of the word
> > puppet..
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