A theater in is creating a modern, living tradition of Taiwanese glove puppetry.
A love story unfolds in and around a huge box on the stage. Unlike conventional performances, though, this story is played out by puppets and human actors, set to live music played on a selection of traditional European and Eastern instruments. The drama, The Box (), is the latest work by the Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company (TPTC) in cooperation with Les Zonzons, a puppetry troupe from . Sponsored by the governments of the ROC and , as well as several art associations, the play is another effort by TPTC to combine traditional and modern elements from both Eastern and Western theatrical styles into new forms of puppetry for audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds.
Formed in 2000, TPTC is based in the set up by the Taiyuan Arts and Culture Foundation. The site is a historic building in Dadaocheng, an old neighborhood of western . Once a prosperous commercial center near the , Dadaocheng has been home to many traditional performance groups of the kind that often stage their shows at temples, entertaining both the gods and the general public. Today, the is still a local religious center and a major venue for such performances by glove puppet theaters and Taiwanese opera troupes.
Chen Xi-huang, TPTC's leading glove puppeteer and puppetry adviser, is the eldest son of master puppeteer Lee Tien-lu (1910-1998), whose life was depicted in the film The Puppetmaster (1993) by internationally acclaimed director Hou Hsiao-hsien. Chen, now 78, continues his father's creative contribution to Taiwanese glove puppetry by telling new stories and designing new puppet gestures, movements and styles, yet keeping the work firmly rooted in the artistry of traditional performances.
Puppet shows featuring hand, string or shadow puppets have been staged in for some two centuries, with glove puppets having developed into an especially popular form of entertainment. In the time of Japanese rule (1895-1945), activities associated with local customs and religions, including puppet shows, were banned. Only a handful of glove puppet troupes obtained the government's permission to perform and these were confined to indoor theaters and shows in praise of "Japanese values."
After the Japanese left , the indoor stage shows of glove puppetry thrived and eventually moved to television studios, leading to a national puppet craze in the early 1970s. The simple puppets that were once the mainstay of outdoor temple shows began to be replaced by new styles of puppets, which grew in size up to one meter tall and featured elaborate costumes and faces with painted "makeup." For example, cable TV station Pili International, based in , is entirely dedicated to puppet dramas, which it has been producing since the mid-1980s. The endless adventures of its puppet heroes and heroines in a timeless, mythical world straight out of a Chinese chivalric novel have garnered countless young fans over the years.
New Direction
For TPTC's Chen and Wu Shan-shan, the group's performance coordinator and director, the Pili productions have somewhat deviated from the traditional art of glove puppetry. "A tall puppet is largely controlled by the arm through the wrist and elbow, making the puppet move up and down a lot," Wu says. "By contrast, when a doll is operated by a puppeteer such as Chen, it can present much subtler gestures and movements because it is controlled by the fingers," she says.
For his part, Chen believes that first mastering the essential elements of the traditional art form provides a solid base from which to study more modern styles. While holding on to a strong puppetry tradition, TPTC has been working on the "creation of an organic, living modern tradition," says Wu, whose training in Western theater included attending a performance school in . "We have no set rules when it comes to creating new works, which can take shape during practice and learning," she adds. In addition to old-style plays set on a traditional stage for outdoor performances, TPTC also presents modern stage shows in which puppeteers, actors and musicians interact with one another. These works have been staged at a variety of sites in more than 20 countries, including the Southbank Centre in , a 16th-century church in the , Casa Mila in , the Traditional Opera Theatre in and even countryside performances in . At home, the troupe has also appeared at 's National Theater. In September and October this year, TPTC will once again head to Europe for a performance tour with stops in , , and the .
Robin Ruizendaal, TPTC's co-founder, playwright and artistic director, has contributed much to the creativity and lively productions of the group. Born in 1963, Ruizendaal developed an interest in Asian culture in his childhood when he lived with his grandfather in , the . The grandfather, a former freighter captain, had traveled all over Asia, lived in and become a lover of all things Eastern. Ruizendaal majored in Sinology at in province and obtained his doctoral degree in Chinese marionette theater.
A poster for TPTC's new European performance tour this year, sponsored by the Government Information Office (Courtesy of Taiyuan Puppet Theatre Company)
In 1986, Ruizendaal went to in southeastern mainland 's province, just across the strait from , to complete a field study of local puppeteering. In 1990, he traveled through the as an interpreter for Lee Tien-lu's troupe during the group's European tour. Impressed by the unique style of Taiwanese glove puppetry, Ruizendaal came to southern for three months the following year on another research trip, and in 1993, he returned to settle down in .
Having helped found 's first museum devoted to puppet theater and its performance troupe, Ruizendaal is now a leading figure in 's puppet theater circles. With international audiences in mind, Ruizendaal tries to keep abreast of the latest international performance trends while retaining the unique features of Taiwanese glove puppetry.
Old and New
Working to integrate the strengths of Ruizendaal, Wu and Chen, TPTC has developed a new genre. While glove puppets dominate, rod puppets and shadow puppets can also be seen on stage in TPTC shows, with many of the figures designed and styled especially for each play. Taiwanese and foreign musicians are hired to arrange original scores in addition to the traditional music used. Also, with the exception of the traditional puppet shows, TPTC's team makes original stage designs for each of its plays, ranging from small sets for children's shows to large outdoor productions that require more than 20 actors, puppeteers and musicians. Moreover, local and foreign subject matters are presented and puppet characters speak in Mandarin and Holo, as well as foreign languages such as English or Italian.
Examples of this unique blending of the old and the new are found throughout the group's works. The troupe's first major performance in 2001, Marco Polo, has a 16-year-old Italian hero who makes a lot of trouble in 's royal court. The play uses the traditional storytelling form of Taiwanese glove puppetry and a century-old stage, while the dialogue goes to and fro between Holo and Italian and the orchestra plays a blend of Taiwanese folk music and Italian opera. This "East meets West" story is often performed abroad and has been translated into several other languages. In Autumn Rain, a modern interpretation of a classical romance involving a Chinese emperor and a famous beauty, human actors and rod puppets interact on the same stage. The play is set to a score composed by an Italian musician, featuring traditional Chinese music. Like Marco Polo, it follows an original script.
TPTC's home base of Dadaocheng also enters its work as the setting for a Taiwanese version of Robin Hood. Set during the Japanese colonial period, Liao Tianding--A Murder in depicts a hero who must decide for himself between right and wrong. The play is remarkable for both the tension and depth of character created in the performance, attributes which are rarely seen in traditional puppet shows. The score for the show includes Taiwanese opera, Holo pop songs and Japanese enka ballads to evoke the bygone days of Dadaocheng's golden era.
In some works such as The Beauty of Taiwanese Puppet Theatre, one program for TPTC's new European tour this year, the amount of dialogue is reduced intentionally. This is to allow audiences to concentrate on the subtle gestures and movements of the puppets, as well as the strong emotional undercurrents they elicit. "All dramas could be pared down to an essential interaction between a character and surroundings," Wu says.
By helping Taiwanese puppet theater develop a modern tradition at home and abroad, TPTC is adding significantly to the puppetry repertoire of memorable puppet roles and scenes on stages around the country and the world. From its earliest beginnings, when its puppets spoke Holo and told stories from classical Chinese literature, to the TPTC's present modernization and revitalization of a traditional art form, Taiwanese glove puppetry has come quite a long way.
Write to Pat Gao at kotsijin@gmail.com