'Belly-speakers', machines and dummies: puppetry in the Australian colonies, 1830s-1850s

Article


Anae, Nicole. 2007. "'Belly-speakers', machines and dummies: puppetry in the Australian colonies, 1830s-1850s." Australasian Drama Studies.
Article Title

'Belly-speakers', machines and dummies: puppetry in the Australian colonies, 1830s-1850s

ERA Journal ID9869
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorAnae, Nicole
Journal TitleAustralasian Drama Studies
Number of Pages22
Year2007
Place of PublicationSt. Lucia, Brisbane, Australia
ISSN0810-4123
Web Address (URL)http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=200800095;res=APAFT
Abstract

The purpose of this article is to give some attention to the characteristics and performative styles of Australian colonial puppetry during the first fifty years of European settlement. Both formal and informal modes of puppetry will be examined - from self-assembled 'toy theatres' in around the 1830s, to grand exhibitions of mechanical automata in the 1840s, and roadside glove puppet shows and marionette theatre beginning in the J850s. In particular, the examination argues that it is possible to track key developments in nineteenth-century colonial puppetry to twin factors: shifts in attitudes to entertainment motivated by mechanisation and commercialisation; and the rising popularity of ventriloquism, magicians and minstrel shows in the early Victorian era.

Keywordsventriloquism, Victorian theatre, Australian theatre, puppetry, performing arts, colonial theatre
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020360403. Drama, theatre and performance studies
430302. Australian history
Public Notes

Copyright on all articles appearing in Australasian Drama Studies rests with the author.

Byline AffiliationsFaculty of Education
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