Cabaret Marionettes
Cabaret marionettes are manipulated in full view of the audience and, if indoors, often only illuminated by two spotlights ensuring that the focus from the audience is on the puppet, not the puppeteer. Though of course in the right hands the manipulation of the puppet will ensure that the audience is captivated, with or without spotlights!
Many British puppeteers have adapted this style of presentation which was pioneered in this country by Eric Bramall.
One of his first cabaret puppets was ‘Kasperl – a little boy pretending he’s an old man’. Originally intended as a version of Pinocchio following the success of Disney’s 1940 animated film. However despite many requests Eric could not secure permission to use the character and as a result, Jiminy Cricket was shelved, and what was Pinocchio turned into ‘Kasperl’ the little boy with the Tyrolean costume who struts around the stage in time to an instrumental version of ‘My Grandfathers Clock’. The puppet has character and charm, but the act itself is simple yet effective. An exploration of the possibilities of puppet movement, in which Eric Bramall demonstrated very clearly his marionette manipulation capability.
Erics early cabaret puppets averaged around 60cm, while his later creations were approximately 90cm.
In programme produced by the German Institute for Puppetry to accompany Eric’s appearance there, Chris Somerville wrote: “While his cabaret puppets illustrate the Bramall imagination, many of his acts are standard trick puppets. Their animation, however, could never be called standard. A delicious sense of timing, a delicacy of movement and a flair for routining have led to Eric Bramall being heralded as Britain’s finest puppet manipulator.”
In awe of Eric’s cabaret acts, a young Chris Somerville began to develop his own characters. Taking on the stage name Tony Dexter he created his ‘Small Word’ act with his original cabaret puppets such as a Rock Star and female Opera Singer together with his tributes to Eric’s Skeleton and Gypsy Vionlist.
A performance of Cabaret Marionettes, whether Eric’s or Chris’s always followed the main show on the Harlequin puppet stage. (Apart from once – in deference to William Shakespeare, they did not perform following their version of Macbeth!) Lasting around 20 minutes it gave them the opportunity to alternate the puppets they performed as well as introduce the occasional new character. In the 1970’s they combined their acts and developed a performance aimed directly for cruise ship entertainment. This continued for many years and as Chris would later say, they were ‘paid to go around the world’.
Some examples from Eric’s early Cabaret;
Kasperl
One of Eric Bramall’s first cabaret marionettes was ‘Kasperl’. Originally made in 1946 as ‘Pinocchio’, he developed into ‘Kasperl’ in 1948 after many failed attempts to convince Disney to allow him to use their character.
The Harlequin
One of Eric’s most iconic cabaret acts was the Harlequin marionette performing its own Harlequin marionette. Originally made to be performed alone, Eric added the addition of the smaller puppet to coincide with the 1963 International Puppet Festival, of which Eric was the director. The introduction for this act, written and narrated by Eric himself, goes; “They say in Japan that it takes a man 30 years to learn to work a puppet properly. If it really takes a man 30 years to learn to work a puppet properly; How long will it take a man to learn to make a puppet work a puppet properly?”
Prunella Twank
Having starred in many Pantomimes himself, Eric Bramall was always drawn to the characters from the raucous performance.
In 1948 he decided to adapt a marionette ball room dancer he had already called ‘April’ into the rowdy Pantomime Dame, ‘Prunella Twank’. She made her debut just in time for the 1948 British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild exhibition.
As Prunella she trotted up and down the stage, lifting her skirt to reveal her stripey socks and pantaloons. The quintessential Dame!
The Kruschen Sisters
‘The Kruschen Sisters’ were a parody of the wartime favourite ‘The Andrew Sisters’ and made their debut in Erics show in 1949. By this time Eric was well established on the Variety Theatre circuit and this act was devised to provide a good finishing act for the Variety stage. This became Eric’s standard cabaret finale for many years and was copied by numerous puppeteers of the time.
Jimmy Parsnip
Jimmy Parsnip, the country yokel philosopher, was inspired by the character created by Sir Bernard Miles which Eric discovered on a gramophone record in 1947.
His notebook designs, some of which you can see here, details that the puppet was carved in multiple different woods; He carved the head in lime, the body is from pine, the feet mahogany and for the hands and legs he tried Obeche for the first time, a lightweight, strong wood with minimal knots.
The above details just a selection from the Harlequin Puppet Theatre’s early cast of Eric Bramall’s Cabaret Marionettes, below is a small example of other characters, including some of those created and performed by Chris Somerville;
