A cane doll is one of the most common varieties of professional puppet theater dolls. From this article you can find out where the dolls on the reeds appeared, how to manage them, what you need to create such a doll at home.
The concept of dolls on the canes
A cane doll is a type of puppet whose playing body involves movements of the head and hands. Such a doll consists of a head fixed on a cane, an empty torso-costume hiding the cane, and hands to which canes of a smaller diameter are attached.
The puppeteer rotates the cane of the doll with one hand (in more complex versions, the head rotates independently of the body), and the other manipulates the canes that perform the movements of the puppet hands. In the performances, which involve the open actions of the puppeteer (not because of the screen), there is a variety of cane dolls with legs - canes are attached to them just like hands. The simplest diagram of such a doll can be seen in the figure above.
History of creation
Reed dolls came to Europe from the East, where theaters with their use have been known since ancient times. It is assumed that they were invented on the island of Java in Indonesia, so such dolls are often called Javanese. The most popular first cane puppet theaters were in Indonesia, Japan and China. The characters were performed like the famous theater masks of these countries, such as the Warrior, Sorcerer, Princess, Sage, and so on.
In Europe, dolls gained distribution due to simpler controls than rope puppets, a wide size range and the ability to use a huge number of characters, creating a "puppet crowd", such as a troop of soldiers or a market crowd. Using classical puppets, it was impossible to create an extras because of the danger of confusing the strings of different dolls with each other.
In Russia, the first dolls on the reeds appeared only after the revolution, in 1918. The first performance was a production based on Krylov's fables.
DIY cane doll
Before proceeding with the implementation of the doll on the reeds, it is necessary to determine its variety. There are four main types of such dolls. For a small home puppet theater, a hapito-cane doll is best suited - it is easy to make it with your own hands, and one puppeteer will be able to control two or even four dolls at once.
Hapit is a small stick, from ten to twenty centimeters in length, designed to fit entirely in the palm of your hand and controlled by your fingers. The professional version of the gapitic doll implies a simple mechanism that allows you to rotate the doll’s head and control its hands with the fingers of one hand, hidden under the doll body costume. At home, it will be difficult to make such a mechanism without the availability of special tools and the skill to work with wood.
But there is a variant of a simple cane doll: the head is attached to a regular stick, which will perform the function of a hapit, and hands are sewn onto a suit without control. Thus, one puppeteer can control four dolls at once, holding two in one hand. Such dolls can be used when arranging a home puppet theater for the smallest spectators. The head and costume can be sewn by hand, or you can sew the body to a ready-made head, for example, from a broken Barbie doll or some rubber toy. As a hapit, you can use any stick or even a regular pencil. A performance with such dolls must be shown because of the screen.
Classic doll
With your own hands, a cane doll for the theater can be made in the classic version. But it will take more time and skills to make toys. First of all, you will need to pick up a good cane for the base. What cane cane dolls are made of? A lot of materials - this is wood, and metal, and plastic, and even thick cardboard. At home, you can use a sharpened branch, a part of an old mop (wooden or plastic - it doesn’t matter), a leg from an old chair, and so on - it all depends on the size of the doll planned and the severity of its head.
If you don’t have to worry about the appearance when choosing the main cane, since the costume will hide it, then when choosing the canes that control your hands, you need to be smart. These canes will be in front of the viewer, and therefore they should be beautiful, plain and not spoil the appearance of the character. Depending on the size of the cane doll, you can use long knitting needles, even turned branches (they can be pre-painted), plastic sticks from balloons.
The doll’s head can be made of papier-mâché: it will be light, it can be given any shape and painted as imagination allows. You can also sew your head like a soft toy. An easier option again is to use a finished head from an old toy. Suit and hands can be made rag.
To control such a doll will require skill. If a simple performance is planned due to the screen, legs are optional (for female characters, they can be implied by a long dress). If you want to take the doll out from behind the screen, you can also make legs hanging from under the suit - they are not required to be controlled, they will just hang loose when moving.
Performing a doll in the form of a four-legged animal, you can fix two canes - one under the stomach, one under the head, leaving the legs in free movement.
"Talking" doll on the canes
A more complex subspecies of the cane doll is a symbiosis with a handmade doll, the mouth of which opens and closes with the palm of the hand. The popularizer of such dolls was the famous puppeteer director Jim Henson, the creator of Sesame Street and the Muppet Show. Most of his dolls are of this kind: their body and head are hollow, a hand is inserted into them that controls the movements of the mouth, head and body, and canes are used to control the hands.
To create such a cane doll, you will need to sew a glove head, as well as a suit with hands. For hand canes, you can also use knitting needles or plastic sticks. You can sew a whole doll like a glove, but instead of empty hands make them stuffed. This option is suitable if the doll is about to be made by someone who is just starting to learn sewing skills.
Dolls with legs
Reed dolls, which are supposed to control not only hands but also legs, are the most difficult. Firstly, they need at least two people to control them (one controls the upper limbs, the other lower ones), secondly, they are more difficult to produce, and thirdly, a performance with such a doll cannot be shown because of the screen, so you need to think over plot space and puppeteer outfit.
Making and using canes is the same as in the previous methods, except that you can’t get rid of the character’s long dress: you will need to think about the appearance of the legs, and also make the main cane as beautiful as possible, since it will also not be hidden.
Using Reed Puppets
For what cases may the manufacture of such dolls be necessary? First of all, of course, to create a home puppet theater. With hapito-cane dolls, a show can be shown to entertain 3-4-year-old babies, taking them in a funny performance. For older children, you can first arrange a master class on the manufacture of such dolls, and then invite them to take a place behind the screen and play the role, or arrange an improvisation.
More complex versions of cane dolls can be worked on for a large-scale representation, such as arranged by parents in a kindergarten, or for students to play a play independently. Also, with such a doll, outside the play, you can unusually congratulate the child on his birthday by making the doll (for example, a speaking version) a kind of presenter at a children's party.
Where can one buy?
If questions about using a cane doll do not arise, but you don’t feel like working on its production, you can always buy a finished one. Of course, in ordinary toy stores, such dolls are hard to find. But you can search the Internet - on the sites of unusual toys you can find a new doll specifically designed for home use. And on sites that resell used goods, you can find professional cane dolls for the puppet theater, which are currently out of use. These dolls will be of high quality and unique design.
If you plan a serious performance with large investments, a cane doll can always be ordered from a professional. Turning to the local puppet theater, you can find out who makes the dolls for them - as a rule, full-time craftsmen do this. A professional will be able to make a doll of any complexity, taking into account the wishes of the customer.
Pieces for puppet shows
Classic cane dolls are designed for serious performances, including dramatic elements that allow you to use the game of hands. The performances "Little Muk", "Aladdin's Magic Lamp", "Tutta Carlson and Ludwig the Fourteenth" are classic. For children's hapitol dolls simple children's fairy tales, such as "Turnip", "Ryaba Chicken", "Three Bears", are perfect.