German puppeteer. In 1919, as part of social activities offered by the Berlin youth movement, Carl Iwowski, a clerk, was introduced to puppet theatre. Using his creative and playful talent, he worked on the project Darstellungskunst mit Handpuppen (The Art of Representation with Glove Puppets) in the ensuing years. The result was an ensemble of highly original and diverse glove puppets. He also developed ambitious theatrical and dramatic solutions. With the staging, in 1926, of Rumpelstilzchen (Rumpelstiltskin by the Brothers Grimm), he reached a high point in his career. He failed, however, to meet the financial needs of his company, and from 1935 on he devoted himself to working with string puppets.

Iwowski tested new ways to involve the public in his shows, such as the technique of “theatre within the theatre”. With his wife and fellow player Ilse Stoppa-Iwowski (1902-2000), he produced in the GDR in 1951 Bällchen-Schnellchen (Little, Fast Ball) by Czech director and playwright, Jan Malík. In 1954, he was responsible for designing the string puppets for the DEFA film Pole Poppenspäler (Paul the Puppeteer) written by Theodor Storm and directed by Arthur Pohl. In 1958, Carl Iwowski’s puppet company “Iwowski Puppenspiele, Berlin” ceased operations.

(See Germany.)