Photo by Farrow Photography
Photo by Farrow Photography
When the opportunity arose to rediscover a cultural relic, I picked out the arduous task of self-teaching Chinese shadow puppetry. This subject demands an endless understanding of context and history. Once I found out that it was considered the art of the people, I was deeply fascinated. It evolved as a result of farmers traveling in troupes of singers and puppeteers, outside of harvest season.
Under the inspirational Polyglot theatre practitioners, I was able to direct this fascination to children through the story of Chang E, the woman in the moon who is praised as part of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Spending hours with my head down, like a solitary animal, I had made two prototypes, before making all the characters of the story, using cardboard paper and plastic sheets, as opposed to the traditional material of leather and wax plates. There was the pelican and the monkey. Each joint had to be precisely fitted. I attempted to use a needle and thread, but this was too delicate for the paper, so I backed it up with plastic so that the paper was used for colour and wires for the joints. What was challenging was figuring out the kinematics of the structure. I have no gift in mathematical logic, so graciously I asked for the guidance of Afy who showed me how to connect it to wooden sticks.
The day the Carlton Primary school kids came, I was nervous in interacting with children as this was something completely new to me. They were fidgety, loud and courageously told me "Speak louder! We can't hear you!". What a joyous discovery it was! At the end of the story, the kids were invited behind the screen to play with the puppets, they all had so much care and play with the objects. One of the young boys, greatly articulate of his imaginings, would continuously spit out retellings of the Chang E on the moon. Others played, some fought with one another with the puppets. Another girl had written Arabic words on the plastic sheet and put it to the light, I asked her what is said, she said 'Allah, this is my God' with a glimmer in her eyes. One of the taller ones asked me to retell the story my way and I handed him the puppet of Chang E with the elixir of life. He was completely focused on the movement and held the sticks in his hand as gently as possible.
By the end of the day, I arrived to my training group at night completely exhausted. Matt, the facilitator of The Thursday Group, asked what happened, I replied "we presented to primary school kids today" with a big smile on my face.
Photo by Farrow Photography
Photo by Afy
Special thanks to Polyglot Theatre fascilitators:
Brioney Farrel
Rainbow Sweeny
Afsaneh Torabi
Emily Tomlins
And of course VCA Theatre Company 23'
As part of the Polyglot residency at VCA, April 2023