Echaves: If you please, a question
Sunday, March 14, 2010
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WHY don’t we have something like that here, or even in Manila?” my friends and I said in unison, at the end of the presentation.
We (Delia Villacastin, Dr. Ester Velasquez, Mary Rose Maghuyop) raved endlessly about the recent performance of the Sichuan Giant Puppet Show held at SM Cinema One.
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Organized by the Cebu Filipino-Chinese United Community and the Chinese Consular Office in Cebu, the puppet show was invited to help celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival 2010, also known as the Chinese New Year.
The Chinese Consul-General of Cebu said it aptly—after the firecrackers, lavish parties, foods and meals, and the dragon dances, the puppet show was the best way of capping the celebration, on top of fostering Cebu-China relations.
Though there were only five puppeteers, they seemed to multiply in their to-ings and fro-ings on SMs wide, wide stage. Their steps were quick-paced, their cadence in sync to the music, and their looks focused and intense; all these noticeable only to people equally interested in the execution and behind-the-scene aspects of production, and those sitting near enough to the stage to see the facial expressions.
What grabbed everyone’s attention, however, were the flow of the program, the grace with which the stick puppets sashayed through all parts of the stage, the beauty of the puppets and the special attention to their features and costumes.
Like other theater performances, the seriousness of the show, especially with the clear signs of precision and perfection, was juxtaposed with comic relief. Chinese performer Yang Po was impressively versatile and talented. One moment he performed as a comedian, then an acrobat, singer and dancer. And he pursued the audience up and down the steps of the theater.
Understandably, it has travelled the world over and reaped awards for drama, sculpture, dance and performance. Among its international plaudits is the Best Performance Award during the South Korea Chuncheon International Puppet Festival in 2003.
Proud of its history spanning 300 years, the Sichuan Huge Puppet Troupe’s popularity began early in the Qing Dynasty, particularly at Maan town and its neighboring areas in northern Sichuan of China.
Often popularly regarded as entertainment in purpose, puppet shows really mean more than meets the eye. In the Middle East, they often take on political themes and are played with live music, smoke and fire.
In Africa, puppetry history reportedly began with the Egyptian tradition, but eventually evolved its own form, using puppets in rituals for healing and for secret societies.
And in North America, puppetry history began in the 1960s with television’s “The Muppet Show,” “Sesame Street” and “Howdy Doody Show.”
Various articles quibble over the first beginnings of puppetry.
One group of scholars credits India, dating as far back as the 5th century B.C., stating that such Indian epics like the Mahabharata and the Bala-Ramayana already used stick puppets.
Another group traces the ancient form of Chinese shadow puppetry to the imperial Han Dynasty in 206 B.C.–220 A.D. The Qing Dynasty in 1644–1911 merely revived this art.
Which brings us back to our question: Why don’t we have something like that here, or even in Manila?
