Puppetry and puppet performances can be found in various cultures developed within their social and environmental contexts. However, Czech puppetry is special in terms of cultural significance. The Czech puppet theater has a long history of being a tool for establishing and developing an independent Czech cultural identity and resisting oppressive government forces.
The earliest evidence of Czech puppetry can be found in the 16th century in a woodcut print. It is inferred that around this time, elements of puppet theater were used in religious ceremonies and folk customs such as fairs and festivals. During the 17th century, pan-European theatre troupes traveled to Czech regions (known as Bohemia at this time) and–alongside live action performances– showcased marionettes, or puppets that were controlled by strings. This inspired amateur Czech puppeteers to adopt the craft and begin performing with their troupes.
These productions led to foundational developments in artistic expression in the region, such as carving puppets from wood in the style of Baroque religious art, stylized set designs, and expressive performances through voice acting. When Bohemia was under the government of Austria-Hungary, ruled by the Habsburg monarchy, there was a push for the Germanization of the region in even the smallest ways, such as performing productions in German in populated towns to enforce the idea that the Czech language and culture was inappropriate. Over time, the Germanization of Bohemia gained negative sentiment across various sectors. Due to the puppet theatre being seen as “non-legitimate,” it created a loophole for Czech puppeteers to spread Czech nationalism, push revolutionary ideas, and disseminate knowledge, including the Enlightenment, to the Czech countryside, where the Habsburg monarchy couldn’t reach them.
With plays depicting the battle of good versus evil, puppetry expressed grievances of the Habsburg government through exaggerated characters such as Kašpárek, a humorous jester who had the freedom to undermine the ruling government due to his puppet status and characterization. Kašpárek and similar characters were vital during the Czech National Revival, the period in the 18th and 19th centuries that pushed to re-establish the Czech language, culture, and national identity. Kašpárek was there for the fall of the Austria-Hungary empire, and similar characters would find themselves there for other oppressive governments.
When the Czechs found themselves once more occupied with a new government helmed by the Nazi regime, prominent puppeteers such as Josef Skupa created productions such as allegorical comedy called “Merry-go round with Three Floors” that gave Czech audiences patriotic boosts and faith that the Nazi regime would not last. Even though Skupa was arrested and his theater company disbanded, Skupa and others like him had puppeteering flourishing in the Czech region.
While the idea of wooden puppets jumping around a scaled-down stage and having absurdist personalities being used as a political tool for nationalists sounds fictional, it demonstrates that artistic expression can have an influence, no matter the art form.
For your consideration, please view the video below of a museum exhibit about Czech puppets that reflects the ideas presented in this blog post.
Written by Gabriella Falcon
Sources:
Bernátek, Martin. “The Renaissance of Czech Puppetry and the Cinema.” Theatralia, no. 2, 2015, pp. 135–167, https://doi.org/10.5817/TY2015-2-4. Accessed 15 May 2025
Billing, Christian M., and Pavel Drábek. “Czech Puppet Theatre in Global Contexts: Roots, Theories and Encounters.” Theatralia, no. 2, 2015, pp. 5–31, doi:10.5817/ty2015-2-1. Accessed 15 May 2025.
Dubská, Alice, and Nina Malíková. “Czech Republic.” World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts, wepa.unima.org/en/czech-republic/. Accessed 15 May 2025.
Dubská, Alice. “Czech Puppeteers under the Nazi occupation.” Marionettes.cz, https://www.marionettes.cz/en-USD-USA/Czech-Puppeteers-under-the-Nazi-occupation. Accessed 15 May 2025.
Dubská, Alice. “History of Czech Puppetry.” UNIMA, https://unima.idu.cz/en/history-of-czech-puppetry/. Accessed 15 May 2025.
Keyes, William. "We Were - And We Shall Be: Puppetry and Czecho-Slovak Politics, 1860-1990." Czechoslovak-American Puppetry, edited by Vit Horejs, GOH Productions, 1994, pp. 72–88.
Nance, Kevin. “Czechs With the World on Their Strings.” Wall Street Journal, 1 Mar. 2013, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323978104578330362615403592. Accessed 15 May 2025.
Stephenson, Cheryl. “Revolutionary Kašpárek: The Life Cycle of the Radical Puppet”. FOLKLORICA - Journal of the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Folklore Association, vol. 25, July 2022, pp. 1-20, https://doi.org/10.17161/folklorica.v25i1.18331.