BEHIND THE MARIONETTE SCENES: THE WHOLE ART OF WIRE-PULLING

Sketch depicting backstage at a puppet show. Published on page 653 of The Illustrated London News.

The accompanying paragraph reads:
Manipulated by operators on a bridge above the stage, and others in the wings for the puppets "off": the Italian marionettes of the Teatro del Piccoli at the new Scala Theatre... Here Mr. Spurrier lets us into the mechanical secrets of their lifelike movements by a peep behind the scenes. "The operators and assistants," he writes; "number eight persons. There are, as a rule, six operators on the bridge at once, who very cleverly handle whole groups of puppets. Some that are not needed for action are hooked on to the structures on each side of the bridge. In some groups the figures are wired together, so as to form a distinct group, such as a troupe of dancers. In large, concerted movements, the operators cross each other on the narrow bridge, and pass the marionette in action on from one to another, thereby showing extraordinarily subtle touch on the strings to be able to carry on, without detection from the front, the whole character and movement created by the first operator. It is said that this art of marionette operators is handed down from one generation to another."