It spreads knowledge, promotes cultural values and entertains the community, especially the youth. Chinese shadow puppetry also passes on information such as cultural history, social beliefs, oral traditions and local customs. The relevant skills are handed down in families, in troupes, and from master to pupil. Some puppeteers are professional, while others are amateurs performing during slack farming seasons. Shadow plays are performed by large troupes with seven to nine performers and smaller troupes of only two to five, primarily for entertainment or religious rituals, weddings and funerals and other special occasions. This talk will introduce the traditional Chinese puppet theatres in Singapore, including the Hainanese rod puppetry, Henghua string puppetry, Hokkien glove puppetry, Hokkien string puppetry and Teochew iron-stick puppetry, as well as the now-defunct Hakka (Waijiang) string puppetry. Many puppeteers also carve the puppets, which can have between twelve and twenty-four moveable joints. Communities Involved The communities involved in Chinese puppetry mirror closely with the five main types of Chinese puppets found in Singapore: Hainanese rod puppets, Teochew iron-stick puppets, Hokkien string puppets, Hokkien glove puppets, and Henghua string puppets. They master special techniques such as improvisational singing, falsetto, simultaneous manipulation of several puppets, and the ability to play various musical instruments. Many elder shadow puppetry artists can perform dozens of traditional plays, which are orally transmitted or found in written form. Manipulated by puppeteers using rods, the figures create the illusion of moving images on a translucent cloth screen illuminated from behind. Traditional Chinese puppet theatre is typically performed in dialect and in modern day Singapore, it has lost a. The glove puppet masters are usually working in relatively small puppets, with loose sleeves for agility and flexible handling of props such as weapons and sticks.© China Puppet and Shadow Art Society, 2009Ĭhinese shadow puppetry is a form of theatre acted by colourful silhouette figures made from leather or paper, accompanied by music and singing. Chinese puppets have a story to tell (Part I). In Asia, Chinese glove puppets (also known as potehi) vary according to region. In glove puppetry, the hand and the forearm are concealed with materials formed to create a figure, from simple crafted everyday materials to meticulously sculpted faces and designed costumes. Bare-hand puppetry, which utilizes minimal to no props, is pure mime and by its name, uses the hand alone as puppet itself. Countries vary in origins, design, and characteristics of their hand and glove puppets and practices. Singapores last traditional puppet stage maker Puppet shows once made appearances around Taoist temples scattered all across Singapore. However, the contemporary puppet theatre community considers the bare-hand puppetry and glove puppetry as distinctly different puppet practices.īecause of its portability, hand puppetry and glove puppetry are the most widely known form of puppetry in the world. The Finger Players is one of Singapores leading theatre companies, best known for inventively fusing puppetry elements into its visually-arresting. The emphasis is on Forgotten Heritage as this important theatrical practice has existed for over a century but remains little known to many Singaporeans. Hand or glove puppets are some of the major classifications of puppet performance and practice. Forgotten Heritage, Uncovering Singapore’s Traditional Chinese Puppets This is the first book to document the diversity of Singapore’s traditional Chinese theatre. Glove puppets from the show “Romance of Mistakes” (Paper Monkey Theatre, Singapore) When I went there, the indoor performance was not. The human hands play an essential role in puppet performance and practice, whether to cast shadows on the wall or a screen, to create movements after being concealed by a glove-like material to project a distinct figure, and occasionally through mechanical aid such as strings and rods. The Shadow Puppet Theater is a performance venue in Wuzhen Dongzha Scenic Area. HAND AND GLOVE PUPPETS Town Mouse and Country Mouse (2013) glove puppets (lifted from ) Throughout, it remained to be heterogeneous a distinctive characteristic of the identity of Singaporean society and culture. World War II led to significant changes, which subject its styles to different phases of transformations and development throughout the decades echoing the country’s multicultural nature. The art scene in Singapore is highly influenced by Chinese and European cultures.
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