Guignol, his theater, and 6 puppets

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Guignol
a glove puppet originating in Lyon, created by Laurent Mourguet

Guignol is a French glove puppet created in Lyon around 1808 by Laurent Mourguet. The term is also used metonymically to refer to the comic puppet theater in which Guignol is the main character, forming—along with Gnafron and Madelon—the recurring trio in plays from the classical repertoire.
Originally, this theater featured an improvised, unscripted storyline that served as a comic local newsletter. The original written repertoire comprises nearly fifty plays. The earliest ones, documented by Victor-Napoléon Vuillerme-Dunand due to mandatory submission to censorship under the Second Republic, date from 1852. These were followed by the collection by magistrate Jean-Baptiste Onofrio, the first anonymous version of which dates from 1865, and the Durafour manuscripts
The performance takes place in a small puppet theater, using the burattino or “glove puppet” technique, whose distinctive features involve specific gestures and disproportionate props, giving rise to the situational comedy characteristic of the commedia dell’arte.
An emblem of the city of Lyon, Guignol is at once the heir to 19th-century traditions, a champion of the Lyon dialect, and a living embodiment of the theatrical traditions of French puppet theater. Guignol has inspired theaters, companies, a wealth of literature and historiography, and popular comic imagery, and serves as the basis for various types of media and performances, including advertising and a television show, *Les Guignols de l’info*.
6 puppets from the GUIGNOL theater
Once used as toys to entertain children
CURRENT CONDITION: the 6 papier-mâché puppets show signs of normal wear on the heads; the theater requires restoration—see numerous photos 
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