Performance Practice at the Salzburg Marionette Theatre
Performing arts in Salzburg, inscribed 2016
Puppetry has a centuries-old tradition in many cultures and is considered the most highly developed form of puppet and figure theater. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre has been devoting itself to this art form since 1913. In order to achieve the most natural motions possible, theatre founder Anton Aicher invented a specific type of horizontal control bar that is occasionally likened to a harp and is still in use today.
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However, as a renowned sculptor, Anton Aicher claimed to be an “artist's marionette theater”, which is expressed in the chiselled physiognomies of the figures, the elaborate costumes and a sophisticated repertoire. In order to create the most precise and human-like movement possible for his figures, the theater founder invented a playing cross, which is still considered a central element of the Salzburg marionette and is still in use today.
The figures are fastened to their control bars with strings one-and-a-half metres in length and moved by puppeteers who stand two metres above the stage. Mastering the control bars requires great dexterity as well as years of practice and experience. The characterization of a figure is the most important aspect of the puppeteers' work. They bring the puppets to life and transfer their emotions to the figures through the strings. The technique of handling the figures is passed down orally from one generation of puppeteers to the next exclusively in the theater.
In addition to the skills of puppetry, it is also necessary to pass on the craftsmanship and artistic skills required to carve, paint and costume the figures. The heads and bodies of the figures, their costumes and the entire set are made by the theater's employees in the in-house workshops.
The Salzburg Marionette Theater is one of the last full-time marionette theaters in the world dedicated to the performance of opera, ballet, plays and musicals.
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