Excerpt from The Tony Sarg Marionette Book This little book is about Tony Sarg and his marionettes. It aims to acquaint you with the lovable and unique personality of Tony Sarg, illustrator, cartoonist, and creator of marionettes; and to tell you about puppet shows, a little of their long and varied history and of certain matters connected with modern puppets which have probably awakened your curiosity, if you have been fortunate enough to see the plays acted by Mr. Sarg's artistic and expressive manikins. Tony Sarg himself is responsible for a great deal of the information contained in this book. He has revealed some of the mysteries which make his marionette productions so different from ordinary puppet shows, and has spent hours with the author, telling him how he became interested in marionettes and how he developed the quaint old form of entertainment along the hues of the modern "artistic marionettes," as they are known in Europe, of which his dolls are probably the most charming examples of the present day. Mr. Sarg has consented to tell young people how they may build marionette stage of their own and how to make and operate puppets. In this book, children who can work with tools, and have some dramatic instinct, will find instructions which will enable them to give successful marionette productions at home. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Expert guide explains how to construct several types of puppets and presents exercises for developing distinctive voices, learning puppet movement. Includes stage design, writing plays, directing productions, more. Over 150 black-and-white illustrations.

Paul McPharlin is one of the 20th century's most important contributors to the art of puppetry. Over a period of nine years he created some 20 productions with marionettes, rod puppets, hand puppets and shadow figures. He was also a prolific writer whose technical, theoretical and historical works contributed significantly to a puppetry revival. His book The Puppet Theatre in America is considered the definitive history of American puppetry. Though shy and aloof, McPharlin was also energetic. He had an ability to bring people together and used this knack to found a national puppetry organization, Puppeteers of America. Besides the author's extensive research on McPharlin and puppetry, the book draws on significant contributions from McPharlin's wife, puppeteer and author Marjorie Batchelder McPharlin, who allowed the use of her 18-year correspondence with Paul in the creation of the book. Chapters take the reader through McPharlin's childhood as a loner in Detroit, his maturation and education in New York, and his early, erratic and often unsuccessful attempts at making a living. His puppeteering years, 1929 to 1937, are detailed, as are the later years that saw him first working for the WPA and then being drafted into the army to serve in World War II at age 38. He continued making important contributions to the art of puppetry until a brain tumor took his life at age 45 in 1948. Appendices present two of McPharlin's plays, The Barn at Bethlehem: A Christmas Play and Punch's Circus. Another appendix details puppetry imprints, including yearbooks, plays, handbooks, worksheets and books. A fourth lists Paul McPharlin's Puppeteers, members of the Marionette Fellowship of Detroit.