Puppet Recipes

Learn about how to make all kinds of controllers:

Get inspired by puppeteers Jakub Šulík and Johana Bartová Šulíková. They founded the Fras Theatre company in 2019, and since then they have become well known in the Czech theatre world for their original puppet shows that tell stories inspired by different kinds of materials.

Too often a novice maker ruins a beautifully carved puppet by slapping a coat of paint on it. Respect your carving, slowly adding layers of paint to highlight puppet features. And don't be afraid of experimentation - a puppet doesn't need to be realistic!

In this recording, learn about the marionette's history, how it is constructed and instructions on how to build your own!

The Stomper Marionette was one of the most popular types of Czech circus marionettes and known for its stretching body and loud stomping. At this recording, you can learn about the marionette's history, how it is constructed and instructions on how to build your own smaller toy theatre version.

This Puppet Recipe brings gives you a chance to see what was at the Hastings Automata Festival, which brought together some of the best automata makers in the world. Mirek then explained how he constructed his own piece, and showed another simple automata mechanism used by Paul Spooner in his famous Frog Princess automata.