Puppets

A Kathputli show-A puppet is an inanimate object, often resembling some type of human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of her hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this

spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction.

The simplest puppets are finger puppets, which are tiny puppets that fit onto a single finger, and sock puppets, which are formed from a sock and operated by inserting one's hand inside the sock, with the opening and closing of the hand simulating the movement of the puppet's "mouth". A hand puppet is controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet and moves the puppet around (Punch and Judy puppets are familiar examples of hand puppets). A "live-hand puppet" is similar to a hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteer for each puppet. Marionettes are a much more complicated type of puppet; they are suspended and controlled by a number of strings connected to the head, back and limbs, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer.

A rod puppet is constructed around a central rod secured to the head. A shadow puppet is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Bunraku puppets are a type of Japanese wood-carved puppet. A Ventriloquist's Dummy is a human-shaped puppet operated by a ventriloquist performer's hand. Carnival puppets are large puppets, typically bigger than a human, designed to be part of a large spectacle or parade.

Hand puppet or glove puppet-The hand puppet (or glove puppet) are puppets controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet. The Punch and Judypuppets are familiar examples of hand puppets. Larger varieties of hand puppets place the puppeteer's hand in just the puppet's head, controlling the mouth and head, and the puppet's body then hangs over the entire arm. Other parts of the puppet (mainly arms, but special variants exist with eyelids which can be manipulated; the mouth may also open and close) are usually not much larger than the hand itself. A sock puppet is a particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock.

Motekar puppet-A Motekar puppet or Wayang Motekar is a kind of shadow puppet theater in Sundanese, Javanese, and Indonesia known as 'wayang (kulit),' (leather) puppet. While most shadow puppets use the silhouette of the black color, Motekar Puppet use a new technique so that the shadow of puppets can be performed with full color. That is because Motekar Puppet use plastic materials, transparent dyes, a special light system and a special screen. The Motekar Puppet show uses puppets and light highlighted as wayang kulit. The play is performed by one or several puppeteers, and it usually features music, singer, and a series of dances.