Puppetry History

Puppetry history features an array of puppetry forms that entertain children and adults alike worldwide.

Puppetry in Asia
Many scholars believe that puppetry began in India about 4,000 years ago. The first shows focused on religious and political themes.

Shadow puppets were another one of the first forms of puppetry. While we today create shapes with our hands, the Chinese and Japanese used animal skins. In fact, in China, pi-ying xi-"the theater of the lantern shadows"-was a famous Chinese shadow puppet theater. Japan moved away from simplistic shadow puppets; by the 1700s, they needed three puppeteers to operate their complex puppets.

Puppetry in the Middle East
Shadow theaters were also popular in Turkey. Puppets are depicted as walking statues in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Throughout the Middle East, puppets often took on political themes and were accompanied by live music, smoke and fire.

Puppetry in Europe
Greece was the first European country to enter the world of puppetry. Puppet shows initially were held in a main theater, but later traveling puppetry shows featuring half-masked performers became popular. Italian puppet shows introduced marionettes. As more and more strings were added to marionettes, performers were able to better control the puppets; intricate movements became possible and, in time, even the opera featured marionettes.  

Puppetry in Africa
The puppetry history of Africa may have begun with the Egyptian tradition, but the country made it their own art form, using puppets in healing ceremonies, rituals and for secret societies.

Puppetry in the Americas
Indigenous people in North America used puppets for their ceremonies. While Central Mexico was the first to use puppets in the region, America developed a style of puppets all their own. Since the 1960s, America has been the pioneer of puppetry history with the Muppets, the puppets seen on television's Sesame Street and The Howdy Doody Show.