Puppetry Performance Research Articles

Act of hope: a story of climate change and water puppetry performance along the Red River, Vietnam

ABSTRACT This case study explores a collaboration between young people, researchers and artists which captured stories of how people in the Red River Catchment of Northern Vietnam are responding to climate change, and then used the local art of water puppetry to communicate those stories to a wider audience. The performance evoked the interdependence of the human and physical worlds, showing the impacts of climate change but also people’s adaptiveness. In this way, the piece highlighted how communities along the Red River are practising how to ‘live with hope’, as Gallagher describes it (2022), and how others could do so, too.

The Evolution of Tegal's Wayang Cepak: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Transformations

Wayang Cepak Tegal is a traditional performing art that has strong historical roots in Tegal City, Central Java, Indonesia. Over time, Wayang Cepak Tegal has undergone significant changes. Wayang Cepak Tegal experienced changes in form due to the influence of changes in human culture caused by technological advances that encourage contemporary transformation in the Tegal Cepak puppet show, these changes can be seen especially in terms of changes in characters, dimensions of form and duration of the show as well as the use of technology in the Tegal Cepak puppet show. Based on this, the research was conducted to examine the changes in Tegal Cepak puppetry from a historical perspective and see the contemporary transformation that occurred in the Tegal Cepak puppetry performance art, limited to changes in characterization, dimensions of form and duration of the Tegal Cepak puppetry performance. The research methods used included literature study, observation and interviews with the puppeteers of Wayang Cepak Tegal. The results of the study found that Tegal Cepak puppet experienced changes in characterization, shape dimensions, especially in proportion, the size changed from large to smaller and the duration of the performance was shorter. It is hoped that the results of this study can provide scientific contributions about changes in Tegal Cepak puppet, can also be a reference for academics and practitioners, and as a preservation effort through documentation of Tegal Cepak puppet as an important part of the cultural heritage of Tegal City in particular and Indonesia in general.
 Keywords: Evolution, Traditional Performing Arts, Contemporary Transformation, Wayang Cepak Tegal

Jesus Koothu: A Contemporary Tholpavakoothu Shadow Puppet Performance

ABSTRACT Jesus Koothu is a contemporary shadow puppetry performance that narrates the life story of Jesus Christ through tholpavakoothu. Tholpavakoothu has strong traditional Hindu religious roots of one thousand years but Jesus Koothu narrates the biblical text of Christianity.

An IoT-Based Microservice Platform for Virtual Puppetry Performance

An IoT-Based Microservice Platform for Virtual Puppetry Performance

Walk in/walk as my shoes: Puppetry and prosocial empathy in healthcare

This article explores the connections between puppetry performance practice and the activation of empathy, considering the synergies between puppetry and medical practice where empathy is a key factor in healing. I draw on a consideration of the place of puppetry within ritual transitional and healing practices to develop an examination of contemporary modes of performance, which require deep listening, response and attention. I examine the connections between neuroscience and puppetry, which suggest that attitude-taking engenders empathy, and compare this to my puppetry training practice to suggest that training for and engaging in puppetry practice can encourage and stimulate empathy. This has significance for practitioners of puppetry working in healthcare contexts and for medical practitioners who undertake some form of puppetry, either within their training or as continuing professional development. Although the different forms of empathy are connected in practice, the article focuses especially on affective (emotional), cognitive and social empathy.

Dementia in Dramaturgically Hybrid Performance and the Performance of Objects

In my research about dementia and its representation in contemporary theatre, I have found that works that employ parataxis are conducive to narratives that foreground the experience of characters with dementia. Parataxis refers here to a dramaturgy in which theatrical elements are placed alongside one another, instead of in a hierarchical arrangement (Lehmann 2006). This article considers several hybrid performances about dementia for how the stage objects featured behave differently, whether they serve to diagnose dementia to the audience, embody narratives of their own or transcend these functions altogether. I discuss hybridity as it pertains to form, specifically that of dance theatre or puppetry theatre. In a paratactical dramaturgy, physical forms like dance can sit alongside the spoken word and take on equal signifying power, as opposed to acting as secondary or merely complementary. From biology I borrow the notion of hybrid vigour and argue that such mixed forms fulfil needs that arise in the telling of neurodiverse stories, which I discuss by drawing on research by disability arts scholars. This enables me to analyse examples of hybrid dramaturgies in puppetry performance, dance theatre, physical theatre and other forms for their staging of dementia narratives and the performance of objects. I then employ theory about stage properties to compare and distinguish the exceptional performance of objects in dementia-themed theatre. The dementia symptomology complicates relationships with objects: on the one hand, they can embody memories, while, on the other, clinical features of dementia make objects unfamiliar and unwieldy. Performances that lean further away from the dramatic tradition are seen to be more apt to present stage objects in ways that transcend their typical dramatic function, and thus potentially present alternatives to the strained object relationality that people with dementia can experience.

Puppets and Cities: Articulating Identities in Southeast Asia by Jennifer Goodlander

Reviewed by: Puppets and Cities: Articulating Identities in Southeast Asia by Jennifer Goodlander Annie Katsura Rollins PUPPETS AND CITIES: ARTICULATING IDENTITIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. By Jennifer Goodlander. London: Methuen / Drama, 2019. 206 pp. Cloth, $102.00. In her latest book, Puppets and Cities: Articulating Identities in Southeast Asia, scholar/practitioner Jennifer Goodlander has created a compelling collection of essays that examine how "puppetry complements and combines with urban spaces to articulate present and future individual, cultural, and national identities" (p. 3). For Goodlander, this examination comes at a crucial time when local and global communities and their politics are changing at an increasing rate, necessitating a fresh look at how cultural forms, such as puppetry, transforms alongside as cities in Southeast Asia continue to "serve as large-scale testing grounds for the reinvention of tradition and the questioning of cultural and national identities" (p. 5). Goodlander's approach to the relationship between cities and puppets is refreshing. Puppet performances are examined within a wider context of political and global movements in and around urban space and considered an active participant in the continual formulation of urban identity. She writes: "Puppet performances and displays often address both the problems and triumphs of the city through a combination of heritage and development as part of larger urban planning initiatives throughout the region. Puppetry offers a place to expose the different layers of identity inherent within the cities" (p. 7). Cities, too, are not simply considered by their geographical footprint, but as a launching point for concepts and themes made possible by how and why we gather in urban spaces. Chapters vary widely between how puppets activate national museums and identities, to Southeast Asian puppetry performance changing national identities in overseas cities, to how social media can be considered "a kind of urban space" (p. 12), and how Southeast Asian puppeteers are utilizing Facebook to raise awareness and capital to further their work in traditional puppetry. The author begins with a clear, concise, and engaging introduction that lays out the themes, parameters, and impetus for the book; while the text is best read collectively to present a diverse set [End Page 304] of case studies that explore the complex and infinite dynamic between puppets and cities, the chapters can also be read independently. Each chapter also presents broader themes that can be tied to additional fields of study, such as chapter 2, which is a comparative look at puppets on display at two museums in Jakarta, Indonesia. The chapter taps into museum studies and theories of the archive to address the expanding role of museums in utilizing puppetry to unify a country's history and its present by activating and reforming nostalgia. Chapter 4 is an example of how the author uses a singular show or event as the entry point to a multi-layered examination of puppetry, cities, and performance. In "Negotiating the Past and Present through Spectacle," Goodlander introduces the case study, The Giant Puppet Project in Siam Reap, in order to illustrate how "spectacle is a certain type of entertainment that brings audience and performers together; modern society emphasizes the individual, but spectacle creates community" (p. 60). The Giant Puppet Project (GPP), an annual outdoor parade that brings Cambodian's disadvantaged children together to create and perform together, is scrutinized in its wider context; Goodlander highlights the aesthetic at work in the spectacle of the public parade, the difficulties of reconciling the push for "authentic Cambodian culture" and the realities of outsider influence and needed support, and the uniqueness of the project outside the commercial tourist economy. The material is thoroughly supported and carefully handled, ending with an acknowledgment of the authors positionality: "Perhaps I might be seen as preferring an optimistic view, but I believe GPP offers the kind of artistic and social space needed for contemporary Cambodians to navigate the many different influences on their identity" (p. 87). The most challenging chapter is saved for last (chapter 7): "Puppetry and Identity in Virtual Worlds." Social media stands in for a city in this chapter because "like cities, social media offers a distinct kind of space that informs the reception and performance of … creative work." Goodlander argues that "the...

From an image to performance: dramaturgy for image- based performing

Undoubtedly, it is impossible Teaching any kind of Art without contemplating the others. Based on dissolving the borders of di erent kinds of arts then interdisciplin- ary trends is so prevalent in Contemporary art. e appearance of elements of other kind of Art like Photo, video in eatre emphasizes on revising method of teaching. In Puppet eatre which has essentially synthetic quality of performance with di erent styles of manipulation and animation up to any Artist, this issue is very important. e entrance of new media to puppet theatre have been more strong and e ective because of some overlapping aspects between puppet theatre and cinema, painting and etc. To harmonize with new interdisciplinary art revising teaching method especially in directing course as nal step is necessary. Image has signi cant and crucial role in our current life and culture. e appearance of virtual media in life of humans, makes image the strongest and closest communication channel with the world. en creating and then reading image is fundamental for artists as well as audiences and naturally must be learned in all kinds of visual art or performing art. Reading image has three step which include from exact observation to pull out motifs and symbols and nally search about characteristic of images which relate the world of image to other worlds. Reading an image could help to implied direct or indirect meaning of an image and use it as a dramaturgical adaptation meaning, transformation it as a text to create a piece. Directing course in Puppetry academy mostly is nal course in which student prepareaperformance.Teachingdirectingdividedintwoskills:Technicaldirectingand Artistical directing. In Technical directing students learn technical aspects of directing but Artistical directing is about director’s approach, the insight of director. Starting with image is a good method for teaching Artistical directing and improve directing approach. is method could help the students to learn making meaning, to learn better seeing, to learn creative looking and reveal hidden meanings. this is applied in stage directing class for puppetry student in B.A and have 4 steps which is start by a selective painting. In rst step painting is introduce as a text and adopted to puppetry performance. second step is rst part of Dramaturgy which is analyzing painting and has six stages. ird step is second part of dramaturgy which is making narration or story and in last step the student search for a puppetry visualization. By achieving the narration and nding the puppetry visualization, the process of rehearsal begins. Also, in this process, light, sound and music are designed and nally each student show his performance which maybe goes toward innovative styles, or di erent theatre forms including object theatre, digital theatre. is method Improving image-mind skills, improving dramaturgical skills, introducing painting (or photo) as a new material for creating puppetry performance and Emphasizing on the strength (power) of Puppet eatre as a kind of performing art which can embrace all modern approaches.

The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance ed. by Dassia N. Posner, Claudia Orenstein, and John Bell (review)

Reviewed by: The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance ed. by Dassia N. Posner, Claudia Orenstein, and John Bell Heather Denyer THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO PUPPETRY AND MATERIAL PERFORMANCE. Edited by Dassia N. Posner, Claudia Orenstein, and John Bell. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2014; pp. 352. Because of our increasing engagement with material objects in new technologies, today is “a puppet moment” (2), as Claudia Orenstein asserts in the introduction to this significant new volume, which argues that the time is ripe to reconsider puppetry as a serious discipline in theatre. Divided into three sections covering fifteen countries and handling topics from centuries-old rituals to cutting-edge robotics, this collection of essays takes on the ambitious project of demonstrating the field’s importance, while opening it up to new possibilities of inclusion under the rubric “material performance” (5). The result is a book that is impressive both in scope (it is the largest volume of puppetry scholarship in English) and conviction. The first part, “Theory and Practice,” introduced and edited by John Bell, includes significant contemporary puppetry theory, as well as personal reflections on the field by famed practitioners like Basil Jones of Handspring Puppet Company, Jim Lasko of Redmoon Theater, and Peter Schumann of Bread and Puppet. The voices of these puppet masters balance the theoretical chapters that start the book and the analytical chapters that make up the remainder of the volume. Margarite Williams’s “The Death of ‘the Puppet’?” starts off the volume with the provocative argument that puppetry as a term must be reconsidered to address the field of material performance today, in our current age of “post-puppet puppetry” (23). Adapting Hans-Thies Lehmann’s “post-dramatic theatre,” Williams considers three examples of puppets “performing suicide” as illustrations of the uncanny aspect of these anthropomorphic objects, be they carved wooden figurines or everyday objects like coffee beans. Stephen Kaplin also provides a noteworthy contribution, discussing shadow puppetry in terms of object, image, and “the architecture of light and shadow” (95) rather than engaging the term puppet. He connects ancient shadow traditions from Asia to new technologies in shadow theatre through material and spiritual aspects. Claudia Orenstein introduces the second part of the book, devoted to “Revisiting History” and “Negotiating Tradition.” Here, established scholars of traditional puppetry forms offer new writing on topics ranging from Indonesian Wayang Kulit (Matthew Isaac Cohen), to Korean puppetry (Kathy Foley), to Indian leather puppetry (Orenstein). These chapters emphasize the relevance of these traditions as they [End Page 375] are adapted and “re-deployed” in today’s societies (202). Discussions of puppetry traditions from England, Italy, Russia, and Eastern Europe by Amber West, Lisa Morse, Dassia Posner, and Ida Hledíková, respectively, round out the global wealth of the volume. Further expanding an understanding of what constitutes puppetry, Jane Marie Law’s chapter deals with a Japanese ritual that precedes the country’s popular puppetry traditions, and Debra Hilborn discusses the performative uses of the Catholic cross in medieval Europe. Posner introduces the third part of the book, which explores “Contemporary Investigations” in material performance and the “Hybridizations” of puppetry forms. Each chapter centers on a single performance, production, or project, and uses this focal point to readdress the role of the spectator in perceiving and defining the puppetry performances. New forms of puppetry include animation (Colette Searls), model trains (Mark Sussman), and puppets controlled by automatons, as demonstrated in Elizabeth Ann Jochum and Todd Murphey’s “Pygmalion Project.” Cody Poulton brings in a useful theoretical discussion based on Masahiro Mori’s “Uncanny Valley” to engage with new technology forms in her chapter on Japanese robot performers. Certain chapters in the volume are interesting if only for a single reading, while others stand out as particularly important in moving the field forward. In addition to the first chapter, Paul Piris’s “The Co-Presence and Ontological Ambiguity of the Puppet,” Eric Bass’s theorizing of the semiotics of puppetry and the coauthorship of the audience, and Bell’s consideration of “The Persistent Life of Lifeless Objects” will be useful reference points for scholars discussing the agency of material objects, the relationship between the puppet and the manipulator, and the spectator...