A single-rod puppet with no controls for the legs or arms. Originally, a medieval jester's stick or sceptre topped by a small head clad in cap and bells. This French term designates an evolved form of the marotte. One of the manipulator's hands supports the central rod, while the other hand is an integrated part of the marotte and becomes the puppet's hands. In some cases, the hands of a second manipulator become the puppet's hands.
Most scholars accept the mask theatre as being a close relative of the puppet theatre.
From Greek tragedies to Native dances, masks have been used by many cultures for different reasons. They can have a social as well as a spiritual function and often represent forces greater than ourselves. The mask highlights elements of the human face or caricatures them. It often symbolizes elements of nature or represents the gods. A type of hand puppet, usually constructed of pliable materials so as to allow the thumb to be inserted in the lower jaw and the fingers in the upper jaw.