The Renaissance of Czech Puppetry and the Cinema

This article discusses the establishment of Czech puppet theatre as an institutional part of modern society in the early 1900s, at a moment of cultural change, known as the ‘Puppetry Renaissance’. Czech puppet theatre changed from a traditional form of folk art to an integral part of Modernism and the Avant-garde; this development took place hand in hand with developments in cinematography, as well as in social institutions and societies. The article demonstrates the ways in which modern Czech puppet theatre defined itself not only in contrast to live actors’ theatre, but also as an alternative to the new mass culture form that enjoyed a boom simultaneously with it: the cinema.