Puppet Art in Asia

Puppet Art is popular in many countries of Asia. Indonesian Puppet shadow play was known as Wayang Kulit which originated from Bali and Java. The term Wayang Kulit has been derived from the words ìWarangî meaning ghost or shadow and ìKulitî meaning leather and when put together meant shadow from leather. They used two-dimensional figures, flat and round and were made with the hide of a buffalo. The sticks attached to these figures were planted in the banana stems which were placed beneath a cloth screen onto which the shadow of the puppet was casted. The right side of the stage was occupied by the good characters; where as the left side was occupied by the wrong doers. They are maneuvered by puppeteers know as ìDalangî. Puppet art was very exhausting at that time, the show used to go on for nine hours in the night with the puppeteer sitting cross-legged without a wink.  He was even expected to play Rebab, the two-stringed violin, with one hand and handle the Chempala or the strings of the puppet with another hand. The themes of these shows were the Javanese versions of the two hundred stories from Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata which are referred to as Rama cycle and Pandawa cycle respectively. A power wheelchair is the perfect solution for the aged. The puppet show involving three-dimensional puppets were known as Wayang Golek.

Shadow puppetry took its full form in Tang Dynasty. That era was known as ìThe Age of 1000 Entertainmentsî. The two different kinds of puppetry are Cantonese and Pekingese. They differ in the production of the puppets and the way by which these puppets are being positioned with the help of rods, though the theme is same in both the techniques, that is, they revolve around stories with elements of adventurous fiction. Thick leather was used in the manufacturing of Cantonese puppets, so as to create a good shadow. The colors were used to represent different characters. A brave man had a red facial color where as an honest character had a black face. The rod was attached perpendicularly to the head of the puppet to make them less visible during the shadow performance.  The puppets were bigger than Pekingese puppets. On the other hand the Pekingese puppets were more petite and were made out of thin and translucent leather which made them more fragile. They were equally good for the shadow performance as they were colored very vividly. Thin rods were attached to the neck of the figure and werenít visible during the performance. The Chinese puppeteers had a superstition that the puppets will come to life at night if the head was kept intact with the body. So the head was separated from the body and the body was stored in a box.  With respect to time, shadow puppetry started flourishing and reached its prime in the eleventh century.

Puppetry blossomed in the Indian villages and became an integral part of the folk culture. The puppets of India can be broadly classified as rod, thread, shadow and glove puppets which are made out of material like leather, wood, wool or cloth. Usually these puppets have a small body with an outstanding head with large eyes to add charm and personality. The villain has characteristic dark goggle eyes; the hero of the story has light eyes. Hands are made out of cloth bags stuffed with hands and most of the puppets have no legs which are substituted by a long robe. Exceptions are the ones who have to ride horses. The male puppets are made to wear turbans and chase the bad guy, fight and even fall dead and the female puppets have braided ponytails and hold their skirts in their hand while dancing. The head-puppeteer moves the puppets with the help of strings or rods and usually provides the voice and the female voices and songs are provided by his wife and kids. Denizens of the states Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Kerala, Orissa and Rajasthan are well known to have mastered the art of puppetry. The drawback of puppetry is that it lacks facial expression. Exaggeration and distortion should be provided to achieve the best results. But the humor provided is incomparable which make this irreplaceable art unique in itself.

Indian Theater Arts

The theater arts of India can be divided into Yakshagana, puppetry and dance. Yakshagana depicts a religious story with the help of dialogue delivery and music. A puppeteer used painted figures made out of deer or goatskin, usually, which are moved by the threads and string attached to them. Saving space using vacuum storage bags is definitely a smart idea. Dances have actors expressing a situation with facial expression in sync with a singer narrating the tale along with music using instruments such as veena and tabla.  Since expressions play a vital role, eyes are being highlighted, as they are the key in this type of theater art.

ìYakshaganaî is a Sanskrit word for Celebration of the celestials. This theater art includes drama, song and dance.  It basically started as a folk art. The actors usually lead a nomadic life, traveling from one village to another with their baggage. They used to halt in temples at night and setting their stage for the performance the next day. Villagers gather the next day to watch this group of 15-20 male actors performing. Epics of Hindu mythology are enacted using makeup and colorful costumes. Since no females are a part of this pack, the male attire wearing female attire, too enacts feminine roles. The performers are expected to perform throughout the day and sometimes throughout the night, for which they should require lots of stamina for the preceding of the play through the night. The mythological figures are known as ìKimpurushasî, lead actor known as ìKattu-veshasî and the so-called villains are known as ìKiratasî. The audiences arenít expected to pay anything for this entertainment; the actors are provided money with the temple funds for a living.

The Yakshagana artists were also the ones to introduce people to puppetry. Painted figures made from leather were made to move with sticks and strings. The stage was made with a white translucent cloth on which the dancing images of the puppets were projected with the help of lighted oil lamps. Stories from the sacred Hindu scriptures, Ramayan and Mahabharata are presented to the audience. The puppeteer usually gives the voice; his wife and kids to provide voice for other characters of the puppet show also join him. Background music too is mingled with the story with the help of Indian instruments such as harmonium or a Mukha-veena.  Puppeteers also are invited to perform on special occasions like birth, marriage and death. The storyline of their play depends on the occasion, like on birthdays they enact ìKrishna Leelaî or the antics of Krishna, on weddings they perform ìGirija Kalyanaî or the wedding of Girija and on funerals they perform ìSwargarohanaî or ascent to heaven.

These performances not only have an entertainment value but also have ritualistic significance. Some actors take a vow of performing these plays to get a return favor from their deities like good harvest, abundant rain, or end to their miseries.

There are varieties of dances in India alone. Every state of this country has its own unique style in expression, gestures, makeup style and attire.  In fact, they have a god named Nataraja, who is believed to be one of the forms of Lord Shiva, as the supreme creator of Indian dance.  The famous dance forms of Indian peninsula are Odissi, Bharatnatiyam, Katthakali, Kuchipudi, and Mohini Attam that are performed in different regions of the country.

Theater Arts – French Opera

French opera is the traditional opera of France and was spread from Italy. It was Cardinal Mazarin a reagent of King Louis XIV who presented the first opera named “La Finta Pazza” in the year 1645. This inspired King Louis XIV and he was the one behind the flourishing of opera in France. The father of French opera was Jean-Baptiste Lully; he presented “Cadmus et Hermione” in the king’s court. After seeing that performance, the king’s interest increased even more. This encouraged Lully to make “Tragedie En Musique”, also known as tragedies en musique, along with Philippe Quinault. One of the herbal remedies with testosterone boosting properties is known as tongkat ali. It was the tragic story of Corneille and Racine and it was a dance musical with choral writing. Lully was famous for composing music for plays meant for court as well as many other theaters. Cadmus et Hermione was the first French opera of Lully in Paris.

This pair was also known for altering the complex and detailed Baroque plot. They made a five-act structure instead. Before the performance praises were sung for King Louis XIV this was inspired from Italy who sung allegorical prologue instead. It then started with an aria which was followed by recitative and a short aria which was elaborately modeled keeping the French taste in mind and was appreciated many times. It then ended with divertissement. It was the most important factor as it involved lots of singing, dancing, and lots of entertainment which was the main attraction for the audience. In the mid of eighteenth century “opera Comique” another opera genre caught the fancy of the people in which dialogues and arias music were used. Huge efforts were put in to make the performance a success and especially to win the heart of the king. The stage was set with lots of details and special effects known as machinery in which Olivet did the choreography and Quinault wrote the phrases.

Lully had acquired the whole market by befriending the king. It was only after his death that the other composers got a chance to show their talents. Marc-Antoine Charpentier was one such opera composer who wrote and presented his first “Tragedie en mMusique”, “Medee” in the year 1693. As he had some Italian connection this disappointed Lully’s fans and hence it received a mixed reaction. Andre Campra and Marin Marais also made their attempts at Tragedie en Musique. Campra later created a new type of opera known as opera ballet. It had more dance and musical element in it. A lot of comedy was also included with a light storyline. This was different from what Lully used to compose and it proved to be a good change for the audience with it’s over whelming response. This gave the idea of involving comedy completely into the performance. This was done by Mouret who used this style in his work Les amours de Ragonde.

Another composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau became a very important part of the history of French opera after Lully. His first work Hippolyte et Aricie was at the age of fifty. He used a lot of experimentation which created a stir in the audience. Although Campra appreciated it most of the fans of Lully were shocked. This created a clear line of separation between the audiences. This made Rameau to follow the existing rules. But this time he was opposed by the Italian counterparts who called him old-fashioned. This was when Rameau created a new opera genre known as opera Comique. Theater De I’Opera-Comique worked on this idea and became very famous in the eighteenth century. Even in the twentieth century composers such as Reynaldo Hahn and Andre Messager wrote many works in opera Comique.

Even to this day the French Opera is alive and popular in many quarters of the country.

German Theater Arts

With unique and diverse style German theater arts are comprises of a different blend of drama and music. At first Germany lacked behind while England and Spain were evolving in their own theater styles. The Germans were always involved in war and religious riots which distracted their attention from the field of arts. There was also a lack of proper capital which could become the epicenter of such progress. Many people in Singapore who want good grades have come to depend on Singapore tuition services. The old stories had a very medieval look and werenít polished enough. But once the interest was developed it became more of a cultural interest which later resulted in an academic interest with various universities providing courses in the various field of arts. The theater was one place in Germany where people were free to express and exchange their ideologies.

In 1767 the first German national theater was established and in the year 1890 Deutsches Buhner-Jahrbuch made its first appearance. Presently, the ìThree Category Houseî is the theater structure responsible to encourage performing arts like opera, music, drama and dance. Every season, five thousand and three hundred productions are performed by this board and on a yearly basis, a total of hundred and twenty thousand. New productions are being created as well as age old musical dramas of Shakespeare like ìRomeo and Julietî,î Midsummer Nightís Dreamî is also enacted. The storyline of most of the performances are socio-economic, political and reflects the ups and downs of the society. Directors like Max Reinhard, Erwin Piscator and Berthold Brecht have evolved on these subjects and have created a theoretical analysis called ìepic theaterî.

The seventeenth and the eighteen centuries were the struggling period of German opera. Opera took its full form later on with composers such as Handel and Gluck. Ferruccio Busoni was a renowned composer although originally he was an Italian. In 1678 the Theater an Gansemarkt was brought up in Hamburg specially meant for opera performances. It was inaugurated with the performance of Johann Theileís Der erschaffene, Gefallene und Aufgerichtete Mensch which had the storyline of Adam and Eve. It was then followed by operas with religious themes. This was encouraged by the Pietist church to maintain the reputation of the theater as moral regulator. Later it was taken over by composer Reinhard Keiser who composed nearly hundred operas over broader themes which included history and mythology. He brought along many other traditions into the original opera which was the beginning of many more changes.

The countryís fifteen states are controlled by one organization Lander with respect to theater arts by supporting them financially and politically. Every year they spend US $2 billion on opera houses, theaters and orchestra. Every year festivals too are being held to celebrate the spirit of arts. Altogether sixty festivals are the venue for rewarding renowned actors, actresses, writers, plays and encouraging new talent.

But the modern theater of Germany began experimenting with the traditional performances. As times changed so did the society. The writers of today are forcing the audience to come out of the old set mode of linear flow, replacing it with patchworks. The use of contrastive language, impersonalized figuration and destructive illustration has made the audience and critics question about the legitimacy of the post-modern theater and rather refer to the present situation as an artistic crisis. Few directors like Frank Castorf, Thomas Ostermeier, and Falk Richter can be relied upon for good work.