Puppets, instead of people, are appropriate for a stage presentation on Baron Munchausen, who famously told tall tales about his adventures, bravery and exploits — each the most magnificent accomplishments ever.

Bowling Green State University professor Bradford Clark created the marionettes for a show on the outrageous stories. “The Magnificent Baron Munchausen: His Travels, Triumphs, and Tribulations” debuts tonight.

“Baron Munchausen’s memory of history is not entirely accurate,” Clark said of the original story. “It was based on a real person, who was known in social circles, after he retired, for telling outrageous stories of his adventures. … It just sort of took those stories and pushed it to absurdity.”

The absurdity is played with throughout the show, from the scenery to actually marionettes.

Watch for three different sizes of the Baron. Clark said that they played a lot with scale.

They are needed to express the grandeur of aeronautical exploits, his daring the depths of the seas, fearless explorations, brilliant battles commanding entire armies. There will also be the swooning of ladies, because love is also in the air for the master of everything. If the telling appears beyond entirely truthful, Clark said that it is just a pleasant diversion.

“A lot of the imagery, even the panels, came from old toy sheets. There’s a lot of research that went into this, both in the story and the visual research behind it,” Clark said. “When I teach design, we always talk about how important it is to do your research. Things only resonate when they feel real and they come from history.”

Clark has studied all over the world to learn his craft.

His carving skills are well represented both by the heads, hands and feet of the marionettes, but also in his tool chest. Clark studied carving in both Bali and Japan, but he also has blades he purchased off Amazon.

He also studied design in China and Moscow.

To create the costumes, he first painted comic illustrations for the BGSU costume shop to turn into the tiny clothes that dress the puppets.

The audience will see actors who will all be puppets, but the greatest choreography will all be hidden — behind canvas and props — pulling strings and ropes from the ceiling.

“The whole idea is that it’s like a traditional Czech marionette company,” Clark said.

There will be 21 people hidden and dressed in black, making it all work. Above the stage and in the ceiling will be seven in the gallery, seven on stage and seven musicians,

Clark began the music selection with a variety of classical pieces, to be played by a quartet, but that also grew as the telling of the Munchhausen tale expanded around the little marionettes.

He credited the entire crew for creating the spectacle that will bring the wooden dolls to life.

“There’s always this temptation to go ‘the designer did this and the director did this,’ but as you will see there is a massive amount of work and I’m only doing a little of it,” Clark said. “There is this huge army of people that make this happen, and sometimes that doesn’t get acknowledged.”

The detail built into the marionettes is extreme. For example, there are 366 sequins and beads just on the horse puppet.

There are some trick puppets that take part in jokes, with elaborate costumes.

Seung-A “Liz” Lee, costume developer, adjunct professor and a Ph.D. candidate, is also known as the puppet mamma. She dressed the puppets.

“You get very attached to them. They have real personalities,” Clark said of the puppets.

Laurel Daman, costume shop manager, has taught at BGSU for 26 years.

“She developed the patterns and created everything that goes on the puppets,” Clark said. “She started working on them last summer.”

“I’m so excited to see what’s going on on-stage, but what happens backstage is mind-blowing,” Daman said.

Danny Mangan has been pushing the scene shop to develop the 13 full scene changes, which will take place during the hour-long show.

Those scenes will be in almost continuous manipulation. In addition to painted canvas and curtains there will be moving props, with painted scenes on elaborately cut, ultralight Styrofoam, that can be moved by handlers.

The shows take place in the Eva Marie Saint Theatre at the Wolfe Center for the Arts, Feb. 17-20, 24-26 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 19-20 and 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at bgsu.edu/the-arts/tickets.

Clark’s adaptation and direction of the popular story is based off the original “Baron Munchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia” (1785) by Rudolf Erich Raspe.