Marionette Faust

The story of the learned Johannes Faust, who sold his soul to the devil for ultimate knowledge, was dramatized in Marlowe’s “Tragical History of Dr. Faustus (ca. 1589) and Goethe’s “Faust“ (1780-1833). Marlowe’s play is said to have influenced German and Dutch puppeteers, who in turn influenced Czech puppeteers. Czech marionette plays began appearing in the 17th and 18th centuries and “Faust“ became a puppet-stage blockbuster. A dozen or more puppeteering families orally passed down their own versions of