Alternative Stages: The Language of Puppets in Cervantes’ Fiction

Abstract

Don Quixote’s fascination with Master Peter’s puppet show has spurred artists and stage directors from the 19th century to the present, creating and recreating a definitive repertoire of adaptations for puppets based on Cervantes’ works. As might be expected, in terms of sheer numbers the Don Quixote itself leads off the list of marionette performances on national and international stages. This article, however, focuses on the staging of Manuel de Falla’s opera Master Peter’s Puppet Show (1923) and the Eduardo Vasco’s sole dramatic adaptation of the epic poem Journey to Parnassus (2005). Moreover, this study investigates the aesthe­tics of puppetry through a close reading of these two creations, broadening the cultural and artistic legacy of Cervantes during the 20th and 21st centuries.