Family affair:
Audience members are invited on stage to get hands-on experience of the Fantasy Puppet Theatre's magic world of light and shadow.
Family affair:
Audience members are invited on stage to get hands-on experience of the Fantasy Puppet Theatre's magic world of light and shadow.
Behind the scenes:
Three members of the Fantasy Puppet Theatre create their own performance, including the puppets, story, and music.
Behind the scenes:
Three members of the Fantasy Puppet Theatre create their own performance, including the puppets, story, and music.
Shadow play secrets revealed
June 24, 2012
To create a bedazzling puppet show of light and shadows requires little more than simple equipment, some sleight of hand, and a lot of imagination. At a special workshop, Fantasy Puppet Theatre Works members not only gave a magical performance, but also invited the audience to have a glimpse behind the curtain to see how it unfolds - and to try puppetry themselves.
“These days, many children have experienced 3D animation. But using high technology is not the only way to express our creativity. Simply using our hands, a lamp and a shadow puppet, we can also present creative entertainment,” said Yip Wai-bun, who founded the theatre in 2005.
A shadow puppet performance can be much more than just moving silhouettes. By using multi-hued plastic film to make the shadow puppets, the puppetmaster can introduce a kaleidoscope of colour.
Mr Yip said they can even create 3D effects to bring an otherwise flat shadow to life. For example, rolling a cylinder with green cellophane strips attached to it under the light source can create a simulation of a lion running on grass. A plastic bottle filled with blue-coloured liquid shaken under the light can produce the effect of a flowing stream.
Behind the scenes
To satisfy children’s - and adults’ - curiosity, the troupe willingly reveals the ‘secrets’ behind the scenes. They demonstrate how the shadow puppets are manipulated and explain the method to the audience. Even a small puppet can project a huge on-screen image by controlling the distance between it and the light source.
The puppetmasters also invite the audience to take part in a hands-on session, to learn how to control the puppets themselves.
“Usually all the children in the audience will put their hands up to volunteer and are very eager to be on stage,” Mr Yip said.
Shadow puppetry provides a good opportunity for parents and children to bond, notes Chen Ying-ching, a Fantasy Puppet Theatre member who designs and creates puppets.
“Parents can create shadow puppets with their children easily at home, making use of discarded materials. They can learn simple body movements to stage their own show,” Ms Chen added.
Creativity boost
Having mastered the craft over many years, Ms Chen is fascinated with this performing art that transforms inanimate objects into lively characters.
“A puppet master knows how to perform and is able to transfer the drama through his hands to the puppet, imagining himself as the character. When I act as a cheerful clown, I become the cheerful clown,” she said.
Puppetry invites unlimited flights of fancy, and that is what prompted Mr Yip to set up the Fantasy Puppet Theatre. He has been devoted to child art education for 20 years. In that time, he has learned many Hong Kong students are afraid to ask questions and are unwilling to think for themselves.
Some of his students expected the teacher to instruct them how to draw or paint stroke by stroke, and asking them to draw freestyle was an overwhelming challenge, he said.
“Through organising puppetry performances and workshops, I hope to develop their powers of imagination and creativity.”
The Fantasy Puppet Theatre is participating in the
International Arts Carnival 2012, and will organise puppet shows and parent-child workshops during the summer holidays. For details click
here.
