Lawrence Switzky This article surveys the art and thought of Jane Taylor, one of the most adventurous and virtuosic minds in the study and creation of puppetry. The first section considers Jane’s scripts for puppets and actors: Ubu and the Truth Commission (1996) and Zeno at 4am/Zeno Confessions of Zeno (2002), both collaborations with Handspring Puppet Company and William Kentridge, as well as After Cardenio (2011) and PAN: A Performance Lecture (2018/19). The second section turns to Jane’s wide-ranging theoretical writing on puppetry, particularly her investigations of how puppetry manifests the formation of subjectivity, acts of projection and recognition, the multiplicity of agency and identity, and the body …
Month: August 2025
From the Editor
This issue of Puppetry International Research opens with a continuation of our Founders of the Field series. Lawrence Switzky’s article on Jane Taylor outlines the influential work of an energetic scholar, teacher, and playwright, who passed away all too prematurely in September of 2023. Switzky, a longtime friend and colleague of Taylor’s, introduces us to the depth and breadth of her work and resurrects her vibrant presence in his remembrances of her approach to art, scholarship, and life. His bibliography offers readers further paths for connecting with Taylor’s ideas. Special thanks go to Kathy Foley, who stepped in as Guest …
