b'T3 Journal - Student Writing in Drama, University of Exeter 2020-21 Matthew LawrenceEnlivening the Inanimate: Exploring the Creationphysically enlivened is by understanding the techniquesBengal tiger from his familys zoo. The scene shows Pis of Audience Belief in Twenty-First Century Westused to control and animate the puppets movement. Thestand-off with the tiger in which both characters lock sign-system of movement is arguably the most influentialeye contact and prowl around the perimeter of the boat End Puppetry in creating audience belief within the puppet. Russianas Pi tries to build trust and respect. The tiger puppet is puppeteer, Sergey Obraztsov, claims that, the puppet ismanipulated by three puppeteers and, as the eyes [] Dissertation Extracts created to be mobile. Only when it moves does it becomedirect the movement of the body (Meschke 1992: 104), alive and only in the character of its movements does itthe lead puppeteer controls the movement of the head Matthew Lawrence acquire what we call behaviour (Obraztsov in Tillis 1992:and eyes. The puppeteer uses slow and precise movements 133). This supports Tillis idea that through movement, thewhen manipulating the puppets head, ensuring that audience can perceive these signs as signs of life. Whenthe direction of the tigers eyes is aimed directly at Pi. observing how the puppet moves and behaves on stage,This denotes the tiger as following Pi, ready for attack. For centuries, the intricate art of puppetry has cultivated aand astounding [] Here we are faced with somethingthe audience may draw links between the puppet andThe movement sign produces the idea that the tiger virtuosic theatre genre that has successfully captivated theutterly unnaturalnamely, life in an inanimate, inorganicthe being it represents (Tillis 1992: 7). This allows themis conscious; the exchange of eye contact and focus imaginations of audiences around the world. The processmaterial. (Zich in Tillis 1992: 54) to decode the representative movement and associate itsilluminates the presence of life within the tiger puppet. of seeing the puppeteer transform an inanimate objectimplied meaning with recognisable behaviours seen in realThe audience decode the stare between both figures as into an enlivened figure fascinates the audience, allowingIn order for the audiences disbelief to be suspended, Zichlife. Theatre semiotician, Jir Veltusk, confirms this byintimidating and begin to determine the tigers predatory them to suspend their disbelief and immerse themselvesemphasises the importance of a puppet being presentedhighlighting, by contiguity, this implied meaning reflectsbehaviour and character. Puppetry director Mervyn Millar within a world of limitless possibilities. Handspringwith a lifelike physicality. Therefore, I will analyse how thein the spectators mind on the puppets themselves, thusemphasises the importance of focus, he notes, focus Puppet Companys co-founder Basil Jones states thatpuppets physicality in War Horse, The Lion King and Life oftending to attribute to them [a] life of their own (Veltuskhelps us with clarity. We want to know what the puppet puppets can reinvent the ordinary (Jones in NationalPi contributes to the audiences belief that the puppets havein Tillis 1992: 133). This decoding of movement is ais thinking about, and how it feels (Millar 2018: 46). Theatre 2011: 00:48), allowing the audience to observe lifelife, consciousness, and emotion.crucial first step in establishing the suspension of disbeliefThe spectator is able to grasp what the puppet is in unprecedented ways. I argue that when the audiencebetween puppet and audience, as without believableconcentrating on by observing the puppets focus have their disbelief suspended by puppetry, they are thenIn order to determine how a puppet is enlivened onmovement, the other sign-systems have little to support,throughout the performance. As a result of the precisely permitted to perceive the puppet as alive, enabling themstage, an analysis of the techniques used by puppeteers tothus positioning the sign-system of movement as the mostdirected eye focus and movement, the audience are to immerse themselves into the performance by believinganimate the puppets physicality is required. To conductinfluential in presenting the puppet as alive. To illustrateable to perceive the relationship between puppet and that the puppet is more than just an inanimate object. Thethis analysis of the physicality, I will use Steve Tillisthis further, I will analyse three main componentsactor as authentic. The actors fearful responses to the notion of being able to suspend an audiences disbelief wasresearch into the sign-systems that make up a puppet, inof movement in puppets: how the eyes and focus aretiger help to enliven the puppet by demonstrating the originally introduced by literary critic and poet, Samuelwhich he highlights how the specific signs that constitutepresented, how the puppet is shown to have breath, andactors belief that the puppet is real. This is evidence to Coleridge, in what he called the willing suspension ofthe puppet are related to signs that are generally recognisedhow the puppet is performed with weight and balance. support how the interplay between two figures is [] disbelief (Coleridge in Roberts 2014: 208). He uses thisas signs of life; that is as signs that one associates withenhanced if they follow one anothers movements across term to describe how readers of literature allow themselvesthe presence of life (Tillis 1992: 7). Tillis organises theseThe movement and control of the puppets eyes helpthe stage with precisely directed eyes (Meschke 1992: to accept and believe in the fanciful language and imagerysigns into three categories: signs of design, of movementthe audience to detect the puppets consciousness; by108). The interaction between actor and puppet helps being presented in poetic writing. I will analyse how theand of speech (Tillis 1992: 7). Through analysing theinterpreting the puppets gaze we can determine ideasthe audience to believe the puppet is alive by suggesting suspension of disbelief is achieved in a theatrical settingdesign, movement, and speech across my three caseabout what the puppet is feeling, thinking, and observing.that the tiger is thinking about and planning out its next by examining how puppeteers in contemporary West Endstudies, I will be able to investigate how these signsSwedish puppeteer and director, Michael Meschke notesmoves autonomously. This idea of the puppet having productions lead the audience to believe that the puppetcontribute to the audiences belief of life within a puppetthat the face makes the most important contribution toautonomous thoughts is easily recognised as a sign of life is conscious and animate. I will be specifically focussingand recognise how that puppet is imagined to have lifethe figures presence, and, in the face, the eyes are whatand helps to strengthen the audiences belief in the puppet. on the representation of the animal kingdom through(Tillis 1992: 23). Moreover, the signs of life presented bydetermine its character (Meschke 1992: 104). MeschkesFurthermore, the kinaesthetic communication established puppets, as animal figures are a common feature seenthe puppets and puppeteers in War Horse, The Lion King,observation stresses the importance of the eyes inby the eye-contact and the movement of the eyes allows within modern puppet theatre productions.and Life of Pi, are visual signifiers that allow the audiencecommunicating the temperament and behaviour of thethe intimate relationship between Pi and the tiger to be to interpret meaning created throughout the performance.puppet. To assess this theory, I will analyse the significancebelievable as a consequence. This showcases how puppetry Czech semiotician, Otakar Zich, describes how watchingFor example, through movement and manipulation, theof eye contact and focus in signalling the relationshipsuspends audience disbelief and immerses them in an an inanimate object come to life on stage captivates thepuppeteer can present the puppet as breathing and as abetween puppet and actor in the recent theatre adaptationillusion of aliveness.audience. He notes that: result, the audience will acknowledge breathing as a codeof Life of Pi. Meschke highlights, the relationship between that signifies life. In this section I will emphasise thetwo figures comes to life only if the play between theirBreath is a communicative tool employed by puppeteers we may conceive of the puppets as if they weresemiotic importance of the puppet in creating alivenesseyes is consciously studied and executed (Meschke 1992:to present the illusion of life (Tillis 1992: 7) within the living beings by emphasising their lifelike expressions,and suspending audience disbelief, as well as highlight104). The audience sees this relationship particularlypuppet. As a sign-system of movement, the implementation their movements and speech, and taking them as real.how the puppeteer produces these signs and creates, asclearly during the first lifeboat scene. In this scene theof breath within a puppet is crucial in encouraging the Our awareness that puppets are not alive recedes, andTillis describes, an illusion of life (Tillis 1992: 7). Theprotagonist, Pi Patel, comes to the realisation that heaudiences belief that the puppet is alive. Millar highlights we get the feeling of something inexplicable, enigmatic,most identifiable way to understand how the puppet isis stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with thethe communicative quality of breath and notes how the 42 43'