American puppet modernism : essays on the material world in performance / John Bell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bell, John, 1951-

Series:

Palgrave studies in theatre and performance history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Puppet theater--United States.

Puppet theater.

Masks--United States.

Masks.

United States.

Art objects.

Physical Description:

xii, 280 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Summary:

In American Puppet Modernism, Bell reveals how understanding puppetry is integral to understanding the nature of the material world in performance and in turn argues that the material world in performance is integral as a means of communication. Insightfully describing and analyzing different types of object performance from the 1860s to 2007, Bell uses the common focus on material objects in performance to link the worlds of traditional puppetry, mechanized image performance, indigenous rituals, avant-garde theater, political street performance, advertising, Kustom Kulture, art cars, and film and television. American Puppet Modernism shows how modern American culture has developed and revealed itself in the performance of objects and offers a groundbreaking contribution to the history of puppet, mask, and object performance.

Contents:

1 Playing with Stuff: The Material World in Performance 1

2 The Sioux War Panorama and American Mythic History 17

3 Shalako Puppets and Nineteenth-Century Ritual 31

4 The Little Theatre Movement and the Birth of the American Puppeteer: Midwest Puppet Modernism 49

5 New York Puppet Modernism: Remo Bufano and Jane Heap 71

6 Puppets and Propaganda: 1930s Parades in New York City 97

7 American Puppet Modernism in the 1930s: Gertrude Stein's Identity 123

8 From Sorcery to Science: Remo Bufano and World's Fair Puppet Theatre 137

9 Performing Objects, Special Effects, and Mass Media 147

10 Automobile Performance and Kustom Kulture 167

11 Beyond the Cold War: Bread and Puppet Theater at the End of the Century 189

12 Old and New Materials: Wood, Paper, Metal, Plastic, Bone 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-266) and index.

ISBN:

1403979812

9781403979810

OCLC:

182662691

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description