The puppeteer Väno Luup is mostly known from the children’s programmes and television shows of Estonian Television, such as Kessu and Tripp, Hey, Gnomes! and Acorn’s Adventures. Surprisingly, Luup’s journey as a puppeteer began with an advertisement looking for an electrician to the Puppet Theatre.
The exhibition Puppeteer by Chance follows the well-known puppeteer Väino Luup’s exciting journey to the Puppet Theatre and the various theatre professions he held over 45 years. In addition, the exhibition highlights Luup’s interest in cameras and filmmaking. The latter has made it possible to display, for the first time, rare footage from Väino Luup’s private collection, including numerous recordings of the Puppet Theatre’s high-spirited tours and the production process of Mickey Mouse in the Haunted House (1972). This was the production that set Luup on the path of directing, which in turn gave a chance to try his hand as a designer and puppet maker.
In addition to the puppets from Mickey Mouse in the Haunted House, the exhibition displays rod puppets from Luup’s other works, such as The White Cat’s Mill (1997) and Buratino (1995). The hands-on activities of the exhibition give visitors a chance to try out various theatre professions, such as designing a puppet, experimenting with stage design, turning into different characters and creating sound effects with musical instruments.
