Wednesday, October 10, 2007
High-def puppetry showcased in premiere of Bunraku Theatre
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: "Visually startling in its stage art, emotionally stunning in its story and spellbinding in its execution, Bunkaru traces its origins to the performances of 'moving dolls' recorded as early as 784 in Japanese artwork. Perfected over the intervening 12 centuries, today Bunraku theater reveals complexities not found in other forms of performing art."
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Puppetry design and performance has always struck me as a highly stylized and difficult art form to master. I can't even begin to think how difficult it must be just to try and create facial expressions, and lifelike movements of the head and body. What makes it even more difficult is how they are only controlling representations of the human body, so there is no subtle control of muscles that would greatly enhance the realism. Instead they manage to make a wonderful performance with masterful control of their puppets rudimentary parts.
I really wish I could see this...after Doc showed us the videos of this last year, I was so curious about seeing just how the entire show worked because everything is so intricate. I was sad that I didn't get to it when I was in Japan since our trip was pretty booked, but I'm determined to check it out the next time I'm there, along with Kabuki.
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