Overview

Puppetry is an art form that dates back thousands of years. A puppet can be nearly anything that is animated, or brought to life, by a human in front of an audience. There are five major types of puppets: rod puppets, shadow puppets, hand puppets, marionettes, and full-body puppets. Puppets can be constructed out of household objects. When constructing a puppet, one needs imagination, a conception of the puppet's character, and an idea of how the puppet will be manipulated.

Puppets, like characters that actors play, need to have defined personalities. In designing a puppet's personality, one should consider what a puppet wears, how it speaks, and a multitude of other factors. During a performance the puppeteer should stick to one puppet voice or else he or she breaks character. Writing a puppet script is similar to writing a play script; one must remember to indicate who, what, when, where, and why. Puppet actions speak louder than words, so as a general rule one must have more action than dialogue. To reach an audience, a puppeteer should exaggerate everything.