Prague for Puppeteers Part One

I bought two guides at Third Place Books because they both mentioned Puppets or Marionettes.  Not all guides I found there did.  But Frommer's and Rick Steve's guides both mentioned puppets a little bit.  This is rather surprising considering that there are puppets everywhere here.
There are whole stores here with nothing but puppets.  Two companies I've found so far do a show every single day...another company a little bit down the road runs nearly every day too (and that one has a beautiful new theatre that sells out every show).  Prague lives up to its claim of being a puppetry capital of Europe!
But the guides just don't handle it well.  Now if you want to come to Prague for the parties and the beer...buy the guides, by all means...they'll meet your needs.  But if you are a puppeteer, and want to travel to the puppetry center of Europe, maybe I can help you out with my lessons learned.
1. More than one place performs Don Giovanni for the tourists.
There is the official National Marionette Theater and then there is a group near the Prince Charles Bridge that is trying to capitalized on the tourists with their guides looking for Don Giovanni.  It's not that they have a bad show...but it's not the show you are looking for.  First of all...it's mostly done with rod puppets not marionettes.  Second, it's in a serious state of disrepair.  It runs twice a day every day.
The National Marionette Theater on the other hand, is a entirely string puppet show...well there is one mask...but it's the show all the guides mention.  It runs once a day at 8pm. Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Marionette_Theatre
http://www.mozart.cz/onas.php
Take all your non-puppeteer friends.  Be sure to spend the 90 Crowns to get the program...you'll need to read it to understand the show unless you speak Italian
2. You are in the hometown of Spejbl and Hurvinek. You've read about them in the Puppetry Journal...you've watched them on YouTube no doubt.  Well, you are now able to go see them in person!
But they are hugely popular...and they don't run every single day.  Buy the tickets as soon as you can...maybe before you leave home. Website:
http://www.spejbl-hurvinek.cz/
3. More to come...

Finding the Right Stuffed Puppy

When I first started blogging about the stuffed toy puppet to marionette conversion, I was in love with the big-eyed toys put out by Russ.  They no longer make them and have not for a long time.
So I've taken to haunting Goodwill looking for any toys I could use instead. Luckily there are hundreds to choose from at Goodwills all over the city.  Next to Teddy Bears, plushy dogs are the most common stuffed toy available.
But how to choose?
Here is a picture of my finds for the workshop I'm giving at the Mini-Festival this Sunday:

 

 Nice looking doggies and except for the brown one...pretty brightly colored. Notice that they are all Miniature dog size...not Teacup. You are looking for a 15" to 18" dog. Two of them are Build a Bear dogs...perfect size! Most of them have five bean bags, one in each foot and one in the butt. This is great because I won't need to weight them. Now...for the most important feature... See the side view: 

 

Notice that each of these dogs have full-sized straight-down back legs. Many dog toys are made with the dog sitting or relaxed on its side--those styles will short you in the fabric you need for your marionette to walk. Also, be wary of the human-style standing-up-on-back-legs kind...Snoopy is often done like that. This type is better suited to stringing as you would a human.

Canterbury Renaissance Faire

If you are planning to come to Salem OR to see me perform Punch and Judy this weekend, here are the show times:
10:30am
2:30pm
Website:
http://www.canterburyfaire.com