The Space Between

The Space Between The Art of Puppetry and Visual Theatre in Australia

by Peter J. Wilson and Geoffrey Milne

In recent years the art of puppetry and visual theatre has re-energised all forms of performance in Australia including public spectacle. The was nowhere more evident than in the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 which boasted a strong puppetry component, rich in content and meaning.

This modern push towards innovative visual theatre dates back to 1976 when Richard Bradshaw reinvented the Marionette Theatre of Australia and Nigel Triffitt set a new benchmark in animating the inanimate with Momma's Little Horror Show.

From this starting point, Peter J. Wilson and Geoffrey Milne examine a host of ground-breaking companies and individuals who helped to shape contemporary puppetry. They explore the era in which pre-recorded voices and hidden bridges were replaced by live visible performers, when marionettes gave way to rod puppets, shadow puppets, black theatre, bunraku, and the locally-conceived form of 'black-raku', a time when long-standing nexus between puppets and children crumbled. They look at the infrastructure that supported these changes, the collaboration of writers and designers and shed light on why some significant companies folded.

THE SPACE BETWEEN is a passionate overview of how puppetry came out of its box and took to the streets, arts centres, classrooms and comedy circuits. It shows how the form developed fresh styles of work for younger people and beguiled a whole new audience of adults by offering them an imaginative exploration of the space between illusion and reality.

134 pps. black and white photos.