Puppetry and puppet performances can be found in various cultures developed within their social and environmental contexts. However, Czech puppetry is special in terms of cultural significance. The Czech puppet theater has a long history of being a tool for establishing and developing an independent Czech cultural identity and resisting oppressive government forces.
The earliest evidence of Czech puppetry can be found in the 16th century in a woodcut print. It is inferred that around this time, elements of puppet theater were used in religious ceremonies and folk customs such as fairs and festivals. During the 17th century, pan-European theatre troupes traveled to Czech regions (known as Bohemia at this time) and鈥揳longside live action performances鈥 showcased marionettes, or puppets that were controlled by strings. This inspired amateur Czech puppeteers to adopt the craft and begin performing with their troupes.
These productions led to foundational developments in artistic expression in the region, such as carving puppets from wood in the style of Baroque religious art, stylized set designs, and expressive performances through voice acting. When Bohemia was under the government of Austria-Hungary, ruled by the Habsburg monarchy, there was a push for the Germanization of the region in even the smallest ways, such as performing productions in German in populated towns to enforce the idea that the Czech language and culture was inappropriate. Over time, the Germanization of Bohemia gained negative sentiment across various sectors. Due to the puppet theatre being seen as 鈥渘on-legitimate,鈥 it created a loophole for Czech puppeteers to spread Czech nationalism, push revolutionary ideas, and disseminate knowledge, including the Enlightenment, to the Czech countryside, where the Habsburg monarchy couldn鈥檛 reach them.
With plays depicting the battle of good versus evil, puppetry expressed grievances of the Habsburg government through exaggerated characters such as 碍补拧辫谩谤别办, a humorous jester who had the freedom to undermine the ruling government due to his puppet status and characterization. 碍补拧辫谩谤别办 and similar characters were vital during the Czech National Revival, the period in the 18th and 19th centuries that pushed to re-establish the Czech language, culture, and national identity. 碍补拧辫谩谤别办 was there for the fall of the Austria-Hungary empire, and similar characters would find themselves there for other oppressive governments.
When the Czechs found themselves once more occupied with a new government helmed by the Nazi regime, prominent puppeteers such as Josef Skupa created productions such as allegorical comedy called 鈥淢erry-go round with Three Floors鈥 that gave Czech audiences patriotic boosts and faith that the Nazi regime would not last. Even though Skupa was arrested and his theater company disbanded, Skupa and others like him had puppeteering flourishing in the Czech region.
While the idea of wooden puppets jumping around a scaled-down stage and having absurdist personalities being used as a political tool for nationalists sounds fictional, it demonstrates that artistic expression can have an influence, no matter the art form.
Written by Gabriella Falcon
Sources:
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