Bunraku Video Response

TRANSCRIPT OF NOTES
Yoshida Tamao (82) Pupetteer
performed more than 1000 times
text presented by narrator/chanter
Osaka=origin of Bunraku
back straightens w/ puppet
entrance-->footsteps build anticipation, crucial to character
10 kg puppets
3 puppeteers per puppet
only slightest movement needed
Yukahon "floor book"
handed down with performance techniques


RESPONSE/New Ideas

This movie helped clarify some things about Bunraku, and also re-inforced some aspects. I can see that an important element of Bunraku is the chanter, as the text is heavily narrated, and this is the only auditory communication. This is something that watching the masters work in the video helped ne to understand better. It also reinforced another important element, the ensemble, which is composed of the chanter, and also the three puppeteers who have to work together and in sync to manipulate a 10 kg puppet. Within that, each puppeteer has to be smooth and in control with the puppet. Only the slightest movement is needed to move a puppet, which affects how the puppeteers move.

This led me to make some connections. The simplistic movement in Bunraku is very connected to mime, which we studied at ISTA in the fall, because it only takes a gesture or motion to convey a message. The way a puppet moves is comparable to how a mime moves in that they are both stylized in order to communicate without needing to talk. Similarly to how a mime works, the puppeteers use movement to convey a character in their puppets. Even the first footsteps of the puppet are crucial in defining character traits. This connects well to acting, like the acting we did in Oliver, because how a character moves is an important indicator of who they are, and the audience's first impression of a character stays with them. I remember Mr. Warren directing me for Old Sally to come on yelping with pain, and to "make an entrance". Now I can see that even Bunraku puppets have to make an impression when they first enter, not just character actors.

Something I am realizing as I learn more about the practice of Bunraku is how much it connects to the other practices we have studied in class, and how growth as a puppeteer can actually have benefit with other areas, such as acting. When I first heard about Bunraku I thought of it as being completely seperate from the areas of theatre I am used to, and while in many ways it is, learning the practice can translate to acting and physical movement.