Puppets and Puppetry

BAMBOO BLIND
Screen made of thin bamboo which is used at the rear of a Vietnamese Water Puppet stage (known as the Water House) so the puppeteers can see the puppets without the audience seeing them.

BLACK ART
Technique to bring objects to life against a black background, using black-clad performers.
Precise lighting of the object (puppets etc) only, with no light on the performers, ensures the illusion is flawless.
See also Ultraviolet.

BUNRAKU
Style of Japanese puppetry where the puppet operator carries the puppet onstage and is visible throughout the performance. The puppeteers are highly skilled and respected in Japan, and provide the voice as well as the movements for the incredibly detailed puppets.
About Bunraku

MARIONETTE
A string puppet. An object suspended and controlled from above by strings. The strings are connected to a control bar, held by a puppeteer. 

OLIO
1) (from Spain / Portugal - ollo a spicy stew consisting of different meats and vegetables)
A collection of different acts (e.g. comedy, songs, dance, puppetry), or an act which isn't part of the main show, inserted to fill a gap, to cover a scene change or as an encore after a dramatic play. Example usage: 'The event was an olio of poetry, dance and songs'.
2) An additional cloth in variety / movie theatres, between the audience and the movie screen, which was made of oil (olio) cloth, and known as the Olio, on which there were often painted ads for local businesses. Acts were performed in front of this before the movie played. 

OVERHEAD PROJECTOR (OHP)
Classroom projector commonly used before digital projection became affordable, where text or images printed or drawn/written on a horizontally-placed acetate (clear plastic) film can be projected via a lens and mirror onto a vertical wall or surface. Still used for shadow-puppetry in small-scale applications (where bright, clear images can be obtained from small puppets placed on the horizontal platform), and in scenic / prop applications where a line drawing printed onto acetate can be hugely enlarged to trace onto a large piece of scenery / cloth, hung vertically.

PLANT
1) One of the main characters in The Little Shop Of Horrors, a stage musical. The plant is named Audrey II, and there are (at least) 3 size variations on it during the course of the show, each of which needs to have various capabilities. Audrey II can be hired from scenic companies across the world. 
2) A member of the production team who is placed in the audience to take part in a key part of the show, while appearing to be a randomly selected member of the audience (also known as a STOOGE)

PUPPET
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. There are various types of puppets:
Finger Puppet - Miniature puppet which fits onto a single finger. 
Hand Puppet or Glove Puppet - Worn on the hand of the puppeteer. Fingers are used to operate the head and sometimes the hands (depending on the size of the puppet)
Sock Puppet - Made from either a real sock or from a tube of fabric designed in teh same shape. The hand is used to form the mouth of the puppet. 
Rod Puppet - Operated from below by a rod or rods connected to the figure. Some hand puppets have rod-operated limbs. 
Shadow Puppet - A 2 dimensional cutout figure using rods to manipulate jointed limbs, and a single rod to support the puppet. Used behind a shadow screen with a light source to create shadows, which is all that the audience see. 
Marionette (or String Puppet) - A jointed figure using multiple strings connected to a control bar held above the puppet. The control bar can be manipulated to make it appear the puppet is walking, or dancing, and with practice, and a suitably complex control bar, can achieve a high degree of dexterity. 
Ventriloquist Dummy - A larger human or animal shaped puppet which is held by the puppeteer by one hand while their other hand operates the mechanism, often a single rod to move the head, with an additional lever to operate the mouth, and others to move eyes and eyelids. The puppeteer provides the voice, usually by throwing their voice so it appears the puppet is talking independently (so the puppeteers' mouth doesn't visibly move).

ROD PUPPET
A puppet supported from a rod held by a puppeteer below the puppet. The rod is an integral part of the construction of the puppet and is usually part of the head. A glove / sleeve connected to the neck of the puppet, just below the head, forms the body of the puppet and hides the rod and the puppeteer's hand. Additional rods are used to control the puppet's arms.