The Secret World of Puppets

The Secret World of Puppets is an open-style stage play that allows the audience to take a peek into the world of puppetry otherwise hidden behind the puppet screen.  

What is a puppet? How to make the inanimate come to life? How many puppeteers does it take to animate one puppet? What different types of puppets are there? What makes them different? How are they manipulated? What does a puppeteer do behind the puppet screen? How about under the table? What is the oldest puppet in the Museum of Puppetry Arts? These and many other questions will be answered in the lively and engaging play of The Secret World of Puppets.   

In the performance that is both educative as well as infinitely imaginative, puppeteers and puppets tell the story of the Estonian puppet theatre. After many years or even decades, characters that have already told their stories and are now resting in the Museum of Puppetry Arts, will come on the stage once again. Dewdrop Fairy, the Mouse, the Fox, Little Red Riding Hood, Buratino, and Kummi the Ghost – The Secret World of Puppets binds their stories along with historical background and the specifics of puppetry into a cohesive and fascinating whole.  

The Secret World of Puppets was born from an idea submitted for the in-house theatre laboratory and created in cooperation with the Museum of Puppetry Arts. It is in a way a follow-up to the Museum of Puppetry Arts’ travelling exhibition The Magic World of Puppets. 

Performances last for 35 minutes, followed by a short question and answer session between the viewers and the puppeteers.  

Photos capturing moments from the process of creating replica puppets with the puppet makers of the Estonian Youth Theatre. Photographed by Annika Aedma.​

Cast

Laura Kukk or Katri Pekri, Jevgeni Moissejenko, Karl Sakrits