HOW I STARTED MAKING MARIONETTES

The very first marionettes I ever saw was in 1952. I was 10 years old and it was a performance by Jan Bussell from London. I was fascinated by Mr Frost. I never thought I would be able to do anything like that, but after we made some glove puppets at school, I decided to change over to string puppets. It was a private but strong decision. I was determined to be a puppeteer for the rest of my life. 

I worked with the simplest of materials. I fell in love with marionettes for many reasons. One is that they have legs. They are complete figures. They are independent and free to jump right off the stage! They can even fly and swim and drift through the air. 

Then one day in 1957, when I was 14, there was another visiting troupe:  John Wright with his Little Angel Marionette Theatre from London. They performed at the Library Theatre in Johannesburg. I was spellbound! The marionettes were all beautifully carved and elegant. I took a bus from the school donned in my school uniform and panama hat. I was so impressed that by the time I was on my way home again, I looked around and every person on the bus looked like a puppet.  

At the same time my standard 7 (grade 9) maths teacher told me about a marionette competition, which was going to be adjudicated by John Wright himself. I entered with a marionette I had already made and won first prize! That is not as grand as it sounds because I was the only entry in my age group, but I was thrilled to meet John Wright who gave me some pointers on how to improve my control. The prize was a book voucher of 10 shillings and 6 pennies. I used it to buy my first book about puppetry. From that moment on, while the other members of my family were playing on the beach or swimming in the sea during holidays, I would walk the full length of the beach, read my book, and then have lots of fun practicing how to shape and carve faces in the damp sand.
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Since I began making marionettes, I had to make all my marionettes myself. There were hardly any for sale in local shops. I was given a glove puppet one day, but I did not like it too much and started changing it. Fortunately for me, my parents often travelled far and wide and they brought me books from other countries. I poured over these books and tried almost everything they suggested. Quite soon I made some changes to get them to work better. I used to practice in front of a mirror so I could see what they looked like from the front. That way I could observe, and think, and begin to invent new ways to string them. So by the age of 11 the seeds of a lifetime of making marionettes had taken root. 

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