Theatre TPP Puppetry

Theatre TPP Puppetry Assignment

The Theatre in the World Bunraku unit we studied in theatre this semester has had a great impact on me as a theatre student. It has broadened my horizons, and allowed me to make even more connections between different theatre practices we study. It has also allowed me a greater sense of respect and appreciation for theatre in other cultures, and reading Zen in the Art of Archery, as well as the script of Love Suicides at Sonezeki, was a great insight into the art of Japanese culture. As a theatre student, I have grown to do some more independent research, like reading online about Bunraku and watching videos, and ask more questions independently. Learning about Bunraku helped me to realize that there is so much more out there than just traditional Western theatre that I am used to, and it also heightened my awareness of puppetry as an art form, as well as my appreciation for the hard work puppeteers do. Moreover, this unit has helped me gain a better understanding of the Theatre IB course, in that it is truly based on all cultures and understandings of theatre, and that it really does have the benefit of opening our eyes as theatre students to what else is out there.

The first image I have included is a clipart photo of a light bulb, which represents all the connections that fired off in my head as I learned more about the practice of Bunraku, other forms of puppetry, and how they connect to other units such as physical theatre, sound, mime, and Dzieci’s work. This light bulb is representative of the “firing off” process that went on in my mind during this unit, in that learning puppetry further reinforced the relevance of the other units we’ve studied. For example, in both Bunraku and mime, which we studied at ISTA, only a small, direct movement is needed to get a message across. By making movements stylized, mimes are able to effectively communicate actions or emotions, and Bunraku puppeteers do the same. Otherwise, there is a lot of confusion with too much movement. This principle is something I struggled with using my newspaper puppet, especially in the first “practice” performances we did in class, where I made the puppet move around so much that no one had a clue what was going on. I remember specifically getting a suggestion to work on condensing physical actions into bite-sized pieces that the audience can understand, which made me realize a connection between puppetry and the work of mime. We tried to work on this for our final puppet piece, but probably could have improved on some parts, such as the entrance of the first puppet. Using simpler, more “mime-like” movements could have cleared up her character to the audience, as with puppetry, I have learned it can be a challenge to establish a character, because there are no facial expressions.

That brings me to a connection I noticed between Bunraku and Physical theatre, as I noticed that neither practice relies on the face or voice nearly as much as the body. In puppetry, the movements of the puppeteers are what guide the puppet, and as the faces of the puppet often cannot be manipulated, the bodies of both the puppeteers and puppets become important elements. This was important to consider in building our Bunraku puppet because it would have to be able to move well. Above is a photo of Ula holding the puppet we made, which we did by rolling up balls of newspaper and connecting them with masking tape. This process was difficult, as it was a challenge to get the puppet’s joints to move like a person’s would. Another element that combined with the construction of physical puppet itself was the movements of the puppet, which were largely affected by how we chose to construct it. For example, in our first puppet performances we did at the end of class, when the puppet bent over there we holes in her legs, and her arms did not have a full range of motion, which limited the movements we could produce, therefore limiting the range of emotions that could be transmitted to the audience.

Another important element of puppetry, or really any theatre, is the ensemble, which was hugely important in the process of staging the “devised piece” with two puppets. To the right is a picture of the paint we used to create the backdrop for our final performance. This picture is representative of the creative process, or struggle, we underwent as a group. In Bunraku, I learned through our classes with balancing sticks and other group exercises, that the ensemble needs to be connected in order to have a successful collaboration onstage and with the puppets. Creating and staging the puppet piece made me realize how essential good cooperation in the ensemble is, because there needs to be some consensus reached in order to move forward with devising. At some points it was hard to have the whole group on the same page. For example, some of us felt it was more important to work on the set, while others wanted to nail down the movements of the puppets first. Our way of resolving this issue was to separate the group into people working on set, and others working on puppetry, but in retrospect, it would have been better if we could have all participated in puppeteering.

Another important element of Bunraku was Zen Buddhism, which we learned about in Zen in the Art of Archery, and applied to our theatrical practices. This is where most of my applied research came from in this unit, as I referred back to the book often as a guide through the process. The main thing I took from this book was the spiritual way in which the Japanese treat their art forms, as well as the many years it takes to master an art form, whether it be tea ceremony or Bunraku. It also reminded me to be patient in the process, and to try to learn as much as I could. However, as a group, I think we strayed somewhat from the basic principles of this book. Our show was less about spirituality than perhaps is traditional, but I think that is a natural result of our culture. That said, trying to work together as an ensemble, and maintain a level of energy and focus, came largely from this book.

Having watched the video of our final puppet performance and seen the performances of other groups, I learned a lot about what we could have done better. Something I think we did well was use the whole ensemble, since everyone was occupied most of the time, either with lights, set, or moving puppets. In terms of the process itself, we would have benefitted from doing more practical work in rehearsals and less sitting around talking about our concept. This was our own fault, but I think we all learned from it, and in the future I will try not to leave practical rehearsing undone until crunch time. That said, some of our technical elements did work, like the painted backdrop, combined with the music, which definitely carried through our concept of having the puppets enter a “different world”. I liked the way we moved the second puppet when he jumped up and down before entering the black hole, and the combination of this and the music. Also, we could have improved the physical movements of the puppets, especially the first, which was the female puppet. I think it would have been beneficial to tape our rehearsals, watch the tapes as a group, and then decide what to improve. That way we could judge for ourselves what worked and what didn’t, which is really tough when you are caught up in the work itself. Doing so would have also helped us realize that our lighting was off, which we didn’t rehearse ahead of time in the LPAC. We could have benefitted from more light in certain parts of the performance, which other groups did really well. Watching Arsalan and Nicki’s group also reinforced how important it is to have the whole group involved, because they switched roles often, which I think was really effective.

This unit taught me about myself, theatre, and puppetry. It made me realize that puppetry has a huge range, from traditional Bunraku such as Love Suicides, to the show we saw at Emory: Frankenstein.