Jonas Klinkenberg lives and works in Leipzig and Dresden. He studied theatre studies and worked at the Westflügel Leipzig, an international Centre for puppetry and visual theatre, as part of the artistic lead for about ten years. He teaches history of theatre and Dramaturgy at the department of puppetry in Stuttgart and works as a theatre and game designer, as well as director and dramaturg.

because everybody loves puppets!?!
How to look at puppetry – and how to talk about it!

“Sacred or vulgar, preachy or entertaining, fine art or amateurism? World Heritage or contemporary art? Experimental, maybe? Puppetry, an art often neglected, marginalised and swept away into the children’s toybox, still has its place within the vast landscape of performing arts, but is difficult to define.”

In the beginning of the introduction of an issue of “Critical Stages” about Puppetry, Margareta Sörensen, a Swedish dance and theatre critic, opens with the great variety of puppetry – ending her Introduction with a question about the critics. “And what about the critics? It would be most honest and simple to confess: far too many of us know far too little about a theatrical form as rich, classic, daring and avantgarde.”

But how to get in touch with this broad variety of puppetry? How to find words for this everchanging art form? Where to look? How to name what we see? And how to critique what we experience during our encounter?
In this workshop we will look at famous forms of puppetry and specifically look for dramaturgical perspectives on different approaches. Starting with basics on the art form, some historical viewpoints, and dramaturgical heritages, we will then have a look at various examples of today’s puppetry. Practical exercises will add some hands-on approaches.
Together we will discuss what we see and experience, train our critical view and develop a toolkit on how we want to approach watching puppetry in the future – of course having in mind, that we want to talk and write about it.
The Workshop will be in English and is directed at theatre critics, journalists, researchers and all those who want to get different perspectives on how to look at puppetry.