Faust on a string

Since the 16th century, Czechoslovakia has been a renowned center of puppet theatre. Much less known is that Czechoslovak puppets and puppeteers have flourished in the Czechoslovak-American community. For fifty years, a group of antique marionettes was consigned to a dusty closet at the Jan Hus Church in New York City's old Czech neighborhood. In this film, cameras follow Vít Hŏrejs and fellow puppeteer Jan Unger as they restore the century-old marionettes, set about re-establishing a puppet theater at the church and rehearse for a performance of Johannes Dokchtor Faust, a petrifying puppet komedye, long a staple of the Czech puppet theater. Vít interviews Stanislav Hrbek Jr., the son of the last pre-war Czech-American puppeteer and journeys to Prague where he consults with a curator at the Puppet Museum and with sculptor/puppet carver Petr Kavan. The film concludes with a spirited presentation of Faust at the Jan Hus Church.