Editing Puppetry (section)

===Australia===
The [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] peoples of Australia have a long tradition of oral storytelling which goes back many thousands of years. They used masks and other objects to convey deep and meaningful themes about morality and nature. Masks were carved from wood and heavily decorated with paint and feathers.

In Australia in the 1960s, [[Peter Scriven]] founded the Marionette Theatre of Australia and staged beautiful marionette productions such as ''The Tintookies'', ''Little Fella Bindi'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collection.maas.museum/object/163386|title=Marionette puppet, 'Tintookies Little Fella Bindi', Aboriginal figure, papier mache / wood / cotton / felt / feathers / metal, designed by Colin Garland for the Marionette Theatre of Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1958-1977|website=Collection.maas.museum}}</ref> ''The Explorers'' and ''[[The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby|The Water Babies]]''.

Phillip Edmiston, who worked alongside Peter Scriven at the Marionette Theatre of Australia, went on to mount in 1977 a lavish marionette production of ''The Grand Adventure'' under the umbrella of his own company, Theatrestrings. With 127 marionettes, the A$120,000 production opened in [[Nambour]] in the Civic Hall on 28 May 1977 and subsequently toured to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The musical was composed by Eric Gross with book and lyrics by Hal Saunders. The story broadly told of [[Captain James Cook]]'s South Sea Island voyage with botanist [[Joseph Banks]] on [[HMS Endeavour|HMS ''Endeavour'']]. Edmiston went on to tour Queensland throughout the 1980s and 1990s with numerous productions with his new company Queensland Marionette Theatre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cabaretpuppettheatre.com/442285209|title=Phillip Edmiston collection|website=Cabaret Puppet Theatre}}</ref><ref>Queensland Marionettes on Tour, Theatre Australia – April 1982, p.6</ref>

Bilbar Puppet Theatre, established by [[Barbara Turnbull]] and her husband Bill Turnbull, toured Australia extensively under the auspices of the Queensland Arts Council in the 1970s and 1980s. Their shows included ''The Lucky Charm'', ''Funnybone'', Mozart's opera ''[[Bastien and Bastienne]]'', and ''Lazy Liza''.  Bilbar Puppet Theatre's puppets are now held at the [[Queensland Performing Arts Centre]], [[Brisbane]].  David Poulton toured marionette shows via the Queensland Arts Council along his 'Strings and Things' with his wife Sally for many years from the late 1970s.<ref>"Stutter leads to lifetime with puppets", ''Sunshine Coast Daily'', 10 August 2013</ref> Gwen and Peter Iliffe also toured with Puppet People. One of their shows was ''Bees Hey'' using the music of Bizet. Another successful group were Ehmer Puppets.<ref>Uhlmann, L., "Bernie Ehmer's Backyard Shed", ''Redland City Bulletin'', 6 June 2013</ref>

David Hamilton, one of the last remaining marionette puppeteers in Australia, tours independently and formerly toured under the auspices of the Queensland Arts Council.<ref>Straker, L., "Puppets and Purchases", ABC Radio Brisbane, 20 January 2010</ref> Some of his puppets were displayed in a special puppet exhibition mounted at the Queensland Performing Arts Complex in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.qpac.com.au/past-events/puppet_people_17/|title=Puppet People &#124; Tony Gould Gallery, QPAC|website=Qpac.com.au}}</ref>

Comedian and radio broadcaster [[Jamie Dunn]] was famous for his Muppet-style character, [[Agro (puppet)|Agro]], who featured on several [[Seven Network]] television programs throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Formally trained in the [[United States]] by puppeteers from the [[Jim Henson|Jim Henson Company]], Brett Hansen and his [[Brisbane]]-based Larrikin Puppets company<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.larrikinpuppets.com.au/|title=Larrikin Puppets - Puppet Show &#124; Children's Entertainer &#124; Kids Entertainment|website=Larrikin Puppets - Puppet Show &#124; Kids Entertainment &#124; Children’s Entertainer &#124; Event Entertainment &#124; Corporate Entertainment}}</ref> is one of only a few Muppet-style puppeteers actively performing in Australia. Cabaret Puppet Theatre, based in Brisbane's Redlands area, also tours with productions for children and adults.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cabaretpuppettheatre.com/|title=Cabaret Puppet Theatre|website=Cabaret Puppet Theatre}}</ref>

In Melbourne, [[Handspan Theatre]] (1977–2002) evolved from humble collective beginnings to a large, design-rich theatre format dubbed 'Visual Theatre', and became a hothouse for innovative projects and multimedia collaborations within Australia and around the world.

A post-graduate course existed at the [[Victorian College of the Arts]], [[University of Melbourne]] in the late 1990s, but has since been discontinued.

Australian puppeteer [[Norman Hetherington]] was famous for his marionette, [[Mr. Squiggle]], who featured on an Australian Broadcasting Commission television program from 1 July 1959 until 9 July 1999. In every episode he would create several pictures from "squiggles" sent in by children from around the country.

[[Richard Bradshaw OAM]] is another famous Australian puppeteer. He is a past president of UNIMA Australia, former artistic director of the Marionette Theatre Company of Australia,<ref>''The Complete Book of Puppet Theatre'' by David Currell, p.50</ref> and does shadow puppetry and writing in the field.

[[Rod Hull]] also made a contribution with his puppet [[Emu (puppet)|Emu]]. In the 1960s, Hull presented a children's breakfast television programme in Australia.

[[Snuff Puppets]] is one of Australia's modern puppet theatre troupes. Based in [[Melbourne]], their work is full of wild black humour, political and sexual satire, and a handmade aesthetic. Snuff Puppets has performed in over 15 countries, including tours to major festivals in Asia, South America and Europe.

There is an annual winter festival of puppets at the City of Melbourne's ArtPlay and at Federation Square in Melbourne.

In Sydney, Jeral Puppets, founded by John and Jackie Lewis in 1966, regularly performs at Puppeteria Puppet Theatre and on tour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://puppeteria.com/|title=Home|website=Puppeteria.com|access-date=23 August 2019}}</ref>

[[Spare Parts Puppet Theatre]] of [[Fremantle, Western Australia]] was founded by Peter Wilson,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Asia|author1=Rubin, Don|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1998|volume=5|page=84|isbn=978-0-415-05933-6}}</ref> Cathryn Robinson, and Beverley Campbell-Jackson in 1981,<ref name="TA">{{Cite book|title=Theatre Australia (un)limited: Australian theatre since the 1950s|author1=Milne, Geoffery|year=2004|publisher=Rodopi|page=358|isbn=90-420-0930-6}}</ref> as part of an artist-in-residency program initiated by the WA Institute of Technology (now [[Curtin University of Technology]]). The company's first project was a puppet adaptation of [[Christopher Marlowe]]'s ''[[Doctor Faustus (play)|Doctor Faustus]]'' for the 1981 [[Perth International Arts Festival|Festival of Perth]].<ref name="TA"/>