Marie Kruger

• PhD
• Professor Emeritus at Stellenbosch University

This paper will not attempt to give a historical overview of puppet theatre under Apartheid. A number of memorable shows will rather be discussed to explain how the natural abilities of the puppet have been utilised by South African artists in the apartheid era to generate informed choices and critical thinking in a troubled society: Puns and Doedi...

This article examines the representation of female characters in four plays about the Border War. Female characters are discussed using three archetypes: that of the Virgin, the Mother and the Whore. Aside from giving an overview of female characters in the Border War drama canon, the article also critically analyses whether these representations s...

This is a chapter in Talking Strings, edited by South African puppeteer Hansie Visagie. It reflects South African puppetry: a puppet exhibition at the annual Word fest in Stellenbosch, television and puppetry, memorable TV characters, the contribution of The Little Marionette Theatre, the beginning of documented puppetry in South Africa, and the lo...

This paper looks at the role of puppets in traditional festivals and awareness campaigns in Africa to created social awareness.

In rural Africa communities often adhere to their traditions as an affirmation of cultural identity. Traditional festivals act as a way to affirm the cultural practices of a community. The primary function of these festivities is to bind the group together, to celebrate and to affirm their identity through cultural practices that can include perfor...

Puppet theatre is a diverse art form which can be applied to serve an array of social needs. Puppets have been described as hardened political animals which can play on both sides of the fence as they can serve a regime, but also act as blatant critics that can ridicule politicians by portraying them scornfully as caricatures. But puppets have gene...

When state support for the arts drained away after 1994, theatre in South Africa became a freelance industry and arts festivals proliferated. In the absence of permanent puppet theatres and with few theatre houses which present puppet shows on a regular basis, arts festivals with predominantly adult festival goers became a prominent showcase and de...

Different terms can be use for puppet theatre: figure theatre, object theatre and animation theatre. Contemporary performances including puppets are nowadays often referred to as multimedia performances, crossover theatre and visual theatre. Some artists avoid the word “puppet” because of negative associations: close association with children and l...

South African puppetry with its diverse European roots started to take on an eclectic and collaborative character and social consciousness in the 1980s. In the 1990s the boundaries between puppetry and ordinary theatre started to blur increasingly as puppets became part of a number of award-winning and internationally acclaimed mainstream theatre p...

Puppetry in South Africa, most probably the one country in the whole of Africa with the most diversified application of this art form, is largely a colonial heritage which dates back to the nineteenth century. Puppetry started as adult entertainment at the Cape settlement, but became predominantly children's entertainment in its pioneering phase an...

The use of puppets in some sub-Saharan countries is often related to the transmission and persistence of social structures. Public rituals, masquerades such as the Gelede of the Yoruba and the performances of the Kamalen ton of the Bamana serve the need to maintain social stability, but they can also act as agents to modify and adapt culture throug...

The Sogo bò, primarily an animal masquerade, can be distinguished from Western theatre through its use of a fluid space with shifting boundaries between spectator and performer. An oral tradition dictates the characterization, scenario, and content. The resemblance to ritual can be found in structural elements such as its repetitive nature and the...

Puppetry is a well-established form of artistic expression in South Africa which reflects the diversity of this applied art form. It also demonstrates the fascinating and exceptional abilities of the puppet in various manifestations - ranging from sophisticated mainstream theatre productions to amateur shows and extensive educational campaigns - to...

The appeal of the puppet lies partly in its dual nature: it is at once a representative object without life while at the same time it enacts the imagined life with which it is endowed by the puppeteer. Marie Kruger argues that this duality makes puppetry a uniquely effective way of questioning the very traditional values it appears to embody, and s...