Hailing from Hebei province, one of the three shadow play capitals in China, Tangshan Shadow Play Theater
Thinking out of the box, literally, the black-clad puppeteers perform with their puppets outside the screen and when they do use a screen, it is several times the traditional size.
To adjust to modern theater surroundings, the puppets are at least half the size of a human. The puppeteers shine ultraviolet lights on the puppets to let the audience see their faces better. The group also adds its own scripts to the repertoire, which previously consisted only of thousand-year-old Chinese folk tales.
These modern aspects helped the group bring down the house when they toured with 190 performances at Disney World in Florida in the 1980s.
Before Tangshan's puppets performed for international audiences, they were already attracting fervent fans in their home country.
The elaborate puppets are made even more lifelike on stage when the puppeteers make them roll their eyes and shed tears. They can even transmute into different characters in the blink of an eye.
Tangshan's current tour is its fourth in Taiwan. According to Arts Formosa (
To adjust to the Taiwanese audience, the group has brought modern tales like The Crane and the Turtle (
Performance notes:
Where: Tangshan Shadow Play Theater will perform in Changhua tonight; at Taipei's Chungshan Hall
When: All performances start at 7:30pm except the one on Sunday, which starts at 2:30pm.
Prices: Tickets for the Taipei performances range from NT$300 to NT$1,000.
Contact: (02) 2771 5676 or see www.arsformosa.com.tw.
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