After we descending Elephant Mountain on Sunday afternoon, Jeanne, Annie, Fann Meeiyuan and I passed a small temple in the park outside the subway station. There was a puppet stage set up outside, and when we learned the performance was only minutes away, we stepped inside to watch the show.
Each of the puppets has a very distinct way of moving and speaking, even though they are voiced and operated by a single artist. On the left is a lady, who moves with a regal, restrained delicacy. The elderly man with the long white eyebrows in the green is the embodiment of wisdom and longevity and moves like an old man. The gentlemen in blue and red are manly and dignified. The blue puppet has a clever running move; the puppeteer makes his feet alternate front and back as he races across the stage. The red-jacketed Immortal is clearly in charge. He walks with huge, dignified steps, cocking his head portentously and raising his red scepter to bestow blessings. At the edge of the stage is a youth, his hair wild and unruly, who bolted onto the stage, leaped and twirled, vaulted over the scenery and flipped smoothly onto the puppeteer’s unseen hand.
As he is operating the puppets the puppeteer is narrating the performance, naming the Earth God and the show’s patrons and singing. There was a recorded accompaniment that sometimes differed from the show we were watching, so two voices were speaking at once. Fann Meeiyuan was translating from Taiwanese, but between the competing voice overs and the classical language, it was rough going. She asked an elderly man sitting near us if he could understand it, and he said he was as lost as she was.
The high point of the performance was at the end, when the puppeteer’s sons came out to show us puppets up close and give us a little instruction. They explained that the puppet theater is their family business, and both boys hope to become puppeteers and carry it on. The older son was proud to tell us that he did some of the voices in the show we saw. I was unable to master the running motion, despite my teachers’ efforts.
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