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Asian Theatre Puppets
Creativity, Culture andCraftsmanship

This is a stunningly beautiful large coffee table book based on the museum and Collection of Paul Lin in Taiwan. It provides a unique picture of the professional and diverse range of Asian puppet theatre culture with 347 photographic illustrations including 234 of some of the finest colour photographs of puppets by Wang Hanshun I have seen.

D. Paul Lin, Founder of the Taiyuan Arts and Culture Foundation and a tireless promoter of Taiwanese culture established the TTT Puppet Centre in with its director Dr. Robin Ruezendaal in 2002, In 2005 the Centre moved into a new and permanent home.  Housing the collection, a theatre and educational facilities, it also houses a residential performing company that has made tours to many parts of the world............Click for More

FIREBALL XL5

On June 29^th 2009 a Definitive Special Limited Edition of ‘Fireball XL5’was released on six DVDs, all 39episodes of ‘Fireball XL5’, plus ‘Wonderland of Stardust’, a new documentary about the programmes featuring a number of the original creative team, ‘Drawn in Supermarionation’, an exclusive documentary of the comic strip adaptations of the AP Films featuring the artists that created the art work.

‘A Day in the Life of a Space General’, a new first full length colourised episode of ‘Fireball XL5’ taken from a HD transfer of the original film.

There is also a well illustrated commemorative book outlining many aspects of the series in the box set.

‘Fireball XL5’ is memorable for a wide range of curious creatures and fantasy characters. John created ‘Robert the Robot’, ‘Professor Matic’, and ‘Zoony the Lazoon’ three of the main characters. The collection contains a number of interesting items from the series and are seen in the documentary on the making of programmes.

Aquio Nishida

It was with great sadness we learnt that on the 6^th of February our friend Aquio Nishida passed away. Aquio was a designer of toys and automata, museum curator and author. His beautifully crafted work was full of humour and fun.

His museum in Arima, near Kobe was also full of fun and laughter. He surrounded himself with young and enthusiastic staff who filled the museum with life. Children would sit spellbound as Aquio and his staff showed them different toys and puzzles from around the world.

Aquio invited us to Japan in 2004 after commissioning 4 automata for his museum. It was thanks to him that we got the opportunity to meet Noh mask carver Baku Adachi for the first time.

It was a pleasure and privilege to have known Aquio and we are eternally grateful for all he did for us. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time.

MARCEL MARCEAU

The death of Marcel Marceau was announced on Saturday September 22^nd. He was 84.

Marceau had a great love of the puppet theatre and frequently expressed in interest in it. He once wrote an introduction to a German book on the puppet theatre by Tankred Dorst, ‘Gerheimnis der Marionette‘. My copy has an inscribed photograph of Marceau that I was given many years ago.

With Jean Louis Barrault he developed the system of the ‘pantomime blanc’. The basic techniques of the imagination for a mime are a number of fixed-point exercises, the most well known, the invisible wall, and the manipulation of the baton. These are two of the most useful skills and disciplines for the puppeteer performer to master. Because the puppeteer manipulates the puppet on an imaginary floor level, the invisible wall exercise, or at least the top of the wall, is of most importance to give logic to the walk of the puppet, particularly hand and rod puppets. It helps to develop consistency in working on imaginary ground levels.

He was a kind and gentle personality, and his silent language made his art accessible to everyone. He was a great influence on the development of a better public understanding and popularity of mime, he also inspired many young, and aspiring mime performers. His stage character ‘Bip’ became well known all over the world through his extensive tours. His performances were always a pleasure to watch; simple, direct and clearly defined, both comic and tragic.

Marceau’s main inspiration came from the stars of silent film, particularly Charles Chaplin, and Buster Keaton, and his work was seen to be related to the tradition of the 19th century characters Harlequin, and Pierrot - Little Peter 'The child of the world'. The foundation of his formal theatrical training took place in Charles Dullin’s famous School of Dramatic art, and his studies under the tutelage of the legendary mime Etienne Decroux. For many years, he also had a school where he passed on his skills as a creator and performer of silent poetry.

John M. Blundall

September 2007

MARIONETTE THEATRE IN QUANZHOU

Anyone who has seen the extraordinary performances of the marionette performers from Quanzhou is left without any doubt that they are the finest in the world. Some years ago whilst I was undertaking a study of puppet theatre in China for the Ministry of Culture, my stay in The Quanzhou Marionette Theatre was certainly the most inspiring.

This new book  ‘Marionette Theatre in Quanzhou’, by Robin Ruizendaal, published by Brill, is the most important and exhaustive on the subject. Through the 470 pages of the book every minute detail is explored and explained.

The Fujian region of China, in which Quanzhou exists, is one of the oldest and richest in terms of the puppeteers art. This new book deals with the early origins and the sources of the repertoire, and the marionette theatre companies and musicians. From the Tang to late Quing, and the Republican period. Then concentrates on three companies from 1949 to 2003.

The education of the puppet theatre is analysed, including the now closed Quanzhou Art School teaching programme, course and structure. This is followed by in-depth accounts of puppets construction and manipulation, and the stage, repertoire and performance context, a ritual prelude. The book finally looks at thoughts on the future of research into the art and craft, translated plays, and an exhaustive bibliography, collected manuscripts, and audio visual material.

‘Marionette Theatre in Quanzhou’, by Robin Ruizendaal, published By Brill. ISBN 9789004151048. Series number SINL.073. List price EUR 120. List price US$ 161.

John M. Blundall

September 2007

‘Septimus Pitt and the Grumbleoids’

During the recent ‘Annual, ‘Aye Write Festival,’ in The Mitchell Library, Glasgow, ‘Septimus Pitt and the Grumbleoids,’ a new book of poems for children was launched. The author, Brian Whittingham observed interesting characters in and around Glasgow, and, unknown to us, he saw a performance of our ‘An Illusion of Life,’ and was inspired to write an illustrated poem about us, with the title, ‘The Retired Puppeteer‘, The first public reading of poems from the book was accompanied by a short performance by Stephen Foster, and his recently completed ‘Pierrot, ‘The Worlds Child’.

An important new book on Japanese theatre

‘Progressive Traditions’ An Illustrated Study of Plot Repetition in Traditional Japanese Theatre. By Helen Parker. From Brill’s Japanese Studies Library. Volume 22. Published 2002.

This monograph with accompanying CD-ROM explores through plot repetition the relationships between three genres of Japanese theatre, No, Kabuki, and ningyo-joruri, with a focus on plays depending on final fugitive years of Minamoto Yoshitsune.

First, the theoretical background to the concept of plot repetition is discussed and the theme of Yoshitsune’s downfall is introduced. The next and main section analyses the treatment of the Funabenkei and   Ataka//Kanjincho plots. In the three genres, with references to their historical development and contemporary performance.

The CD-ROM contains video clips, photographs and nishiki-e prints from productions in each genre to illustrate how the plots are presented on stage.

‘Progressive Traditions’ is an important and scholarly work that gives a fascinating insight into the links between the Noh theatre, Kabuki, and Ningyo Joruri, better known to puppeteers as Bunraku.

Czechoslovak theatre and puppet theatre publications from The Czech Theatre Institute in Prague.

Czech puppet theatre has always preserved its nationalistic qualities; it has always been possible to feel the energies of past generations of puppeteers reflected in the many and various modern productions seen over the years.

‘Czech Puppet Theatre - Yesterday and Today’, is a well designed book full coloured photographs and details of its developments over the years, from its earliest beginnings to its contemporary theatres.

The book pin-points the all important amateur infrastructure, the oldest puppet theatre buildings, the formation of modern Czech puppeteers, and the extraordinary talents of some of the major personalities such as Josef Skupa, Jan Malik and Eric Kolar, Developments after World 2, and the reformation of UNIMA. The major personalities of modern Czech puppet theatre include the outstanding director, Josef Krofta, who pushed the boundaries of the puppet theatre to its extremes, the puppet film makers Jiri Trnka and Jan Svankmejer, Jiri Srnec, and The Black Theatre. Contemporary puppet theatres. Museums of puppets, puppet theatre schools, Loutkar the puppet theatre magazine, festivals and Czech UNIMA complete this fascinating publication, and are well worth having, to understand the achievements one of the leading countries, and the achievements of generations of puppeteers, and other specialists involved in the art.

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