The history of puppet shows in France

From the 5th to the 26th of July, the streets of Avignon will be thronged with actors, artists, musicians and other creatives as they set up their shows and perform as part of the annual Avignon Festival, now in its 79th edition. Every year tourists flock from around the world to this beautiful town in south-eastern France to see the spectacles, plays, music acts - and puppet shows.

To outsiders, particularly those from places where puppet shows are typically perceived as children's entertainment, the abundance of puppets on display in Avignon might seem peculiar. But puppet shows have a long and storied history in France, one that is still being forged in places like Avignon, and beyond. And some of the shows are certainly not for children.

In Europe, popular puppet shows date back to the Middle Ages, when travelling performers would earn a living by putting on morality plays in town squares, fairs or other public venues across the continent. Indeed, the term 'marionette', which comes to English from the French, means ‘little Mary’, in reference to the Virgin Mary, who was often depicted in these plays. As puppet shows became more comic and ribald, however, the Church decided to distance itself from these irreverent displays, and issued an edict banning them - to little effect. In fact, the censure largely backfired, emboldening the puppeteers, who would often set up their shows outside cathedrals. Meanwhile, the religious themes gradually faded as the art became more slapstick. The Commedia dell’Arte was a product of this evolution, resulting in a uniform cast of characters that were encountered in puppet shows across Europe, in Italy and France especially. Some of the more famous characters include:

Harlequin: the quintessential trickster, known for his distinctive chequered garb

Pantalone: before there was Ebeneezer Scrooge there was Pantalone, a stereotypical elderly miser

Scaramouche: a boastful and mean-spirited clown who often finds himself on the receiving end of Harlequin's rebukes

Pulcinella: often depicted as a pot-bellied jester or clown, Pulcinella is as shrewd and cunning as he appears clumsy and oafish

During the widespread poverty that followed the French Revolution, a dentist called Laurent Mourguet decided to use puppeteering to attract clients. He invented a marionette known as Guignol, who appeared alongside characters from the commedia dell’arte in his shows. The puppet shows became so popular that soon more people were queuing up to watch the puppets knock one another's teeth out than to have their own teeth pulled, and Mourguet gave up dentistry to commit himself to puppeteering full time. He invented a range of other characters to join Guignol and the cast from the Commedia dell'Arte, including Madelon, a wife for Guignol.

The tradition was carried on after Mourguet's death by his children, and by their children. Indeed, Mourguet's last descendent, Jean-Guy Mourguet, was the director of the Theatre de Guignol in Lyon until his death in 2012, where you can still see Guignol and his friends brought to life on the stage.

Guignol has enjoyed a profound impact on French culture and society. France's satirical puppet TV show - Les Guignols - is named after him, and Guignol shows are performed across the country.

Puppet shows remain a cornerstone of French culture, kept alive by various schools, theatres and festivals. Located in Charleville-Mézières, ESNAM, which stands for L'École nationale supérieure des arts de la marionnette, is arguably the world's premier institute for studying the art of puppetry, while the Pôle International de la Marionnette, which takes place every other year, showcases hundreds of puppet shows.

The Avignon Festival, meanwhile, attracts tourists from around the world for its highly inventive puppet shows. Some of the highlights this year include Fusées, a puppet show which 'sets out to tell children and adults alike the epic story of space exploration' and La Dame Blanche, an enormous white puppet who you might meet roaming the city's streets.

Of course, the Avignon Festival is more than just puppet shows. You can see a full itinerary of the official 'In' festival here, and the unofficial 'Off' festival here.