The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance offers a wide-ranging
perspective on how scholars and artists are currently re-evaluating the theoretical, historical,


and theatrical significance of performance that embraces the agency of inanimate objects.


This book proposes a collaborative, responsive model for broader artistic engagement in and


with the material world. Its 28 chapters aim to advance the study of the puppet not only as a


theatrical object but also as a vibrant artistic and scholarly discipline.


This Companion looks at puppetry and material performance from six perspectives: theoretical


approaches to the puppet, perspectives from practitioners, revisiting history, negotiating tradition,


material performances in contemporary theatre, and hybrid forms. Its wide range of topics, which


span 15 countries over five continents, encompasses:


* visual dramaturgy


* theatrical juxtapositions of robots and humans


* contemporary transformations of Indonesian wayang kulit


* Japanese ritual body substitutes


* recent European productions featuring toys, clay, and food.


The book features newly commissioned essays by leading scholars such as Matthew Isaac


Cohen, Kathy Foley, Jane Marie Law, Eleanor Margolies, Cody Poulton, and Jane Taylor.


It also celebrates