The two principal reasons for Ghelderode's attraction to puppet theatre are his dissatisfaction with living actors and his inclination toward caricature. (p. 973)

A devout Pauline Catholic, Ghelderode sees man as the puppet and God as the puppet master. By employing the world-as-stage metaphor, Ghelderode is able vividly and dramatically to place man in the religious scheme of things: namely, at the end of a string drawn by the hand of God. In the diction of puppetry, Ghelderode finds a vehicle to describe his own search for God and for personal meaning….

However, there is a more practical reason for Ghelderode to promote the use of puppets in place of actors: marionette theatre offers an inexpensive forum for young or unproven playwrights…. Marionette theatre provides a means of breaking away from stale dramatic conventions and of encouraging improvisation. (p. 974)

Like Pirandello, Ghelderode believes that flesh and blood actors, popular...