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puppetry
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Guignol English toy theatre Faun and Nymph puppets Chinese children playing with marionettes Marionnettes à la planchette Punch-and-Judy show puppet-style modern dance-drama based on the Ramayana wayang kulit puppets Indonesian wayang shadow puppet and decoration Fran Allison with Kukla and Ollie
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Guignol
Guignol Guignol (right) with a gendarme, puppet performance in Lyon, France.

puppetry

Written by
George Speaight
Former Editorial Director, George Rainbird Ltd. Author of The History of the English Puppet Theatre; Punch and Judy: A History; and others.
George Speaight
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

puppetry, the making and manipulation of puppets for use in some kind of theatrical show. A puppet is a figure—human, animal, or abstract in form—that is moved by human, and not mechanical, aid. These definitions are wide enough to include an enormous variety of shows and an enormous variety of puppet types, but they do exclude certain related activities and figures. A doll, for instance, is not a puppet, and a girl playing with her...

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