The New York Times: In December, while French theaters remained shut because of the pandemic, Hubert Mahela was able to perform his latest show a dozen times. The reason? He makes puppet shows for young audiences, who happened to be in school — and in need of entertainment.
4 comments:
After reading a similar article about puppets, I became so engrossed with the art form. I had no idea it was as big as it was and in France they have a puppetry program that” admits only 15 students every three years, some of puppetry’s biggest names honed their craft there”. I liked what this article said about puppet masters wanting puppetry to become contemporary because it’s usually overlooked at festivals. What is holding puppetry back from becoming a popular art form is that it is still associated with children. And while it’s a great art form for them and that’s where the roots of puppetry comes from, I Think adults can enjoy it just as much, if not more than children. I think theater should embrace this art form. One thing that one person pointed out was that they could have a production of 20 characters because they don’t have to pay the puppets. I am imagining a play with a mix of humans and puppets and it makes me very excited.
Puppetry is definitely an underrated form of entertainment. With new advances in technology to create films and other performances with VMX, digital art, automation, CGI, etc, such simple forms of special effects have been looked down on for being "unrealistic". For example, characters like Yoda who were once the product of masterful puppetry are now taken over by CGI. This article was definitely humbling to read. A show I did in high school incorporated shadow puppetry, and the mastery to convey a character through an object is definitely a difficult skill. Puppetry has been looked down on as old school and tacky, and the appreciation it deserves is being undermined. I think that the pandemic has pushed entertainment to new limits, and rediscover ways of story-telling when social contact isn't permitted. Some places have found ways to translate entertainment more through technology, but this example in France has shown entertainment styles rewind to simple ways of story-telling. In a way, the pandemic has provided such art forms to have a rebirth, and an opportunity to come back in popularity.
I wasn't aware that puppetry is often considered a childish and lowbrow form of theatre. Personally, I've always had good experiences with puppet shows and have left with just as much awe, interest, and emotional impact as some of the best more traditional stage productions. I've also had the privilege to work on the fabrication of 2 puppets, one for a project and one for a show. Both of which turned out to be very difficult, time-consuming, and rewarding things I've worked on. The craftsmanship that goes into puppet making varies a lot depending on the genre and style but it's all so intensely effective when utilized correctly it's astounding. One of the shows I worked on that had a puppet we first tried to produce with an actor acting as a puppet and the difference in the quality of the performance increased dramatically after the addition of our semi-Bunraku inspired puppet design. They're such an underrated form of art. Although admittedly I am a little afraid of them.
Along with magnolia, I wasn't aware that puppetry is often considered a childish and lowbrow form of theatre. In retrospect, I realize that some of my first interactions with theatre and performance happen to be with puppet theatre in Kindergarden and the first grade. Puppetry is a rich and aged art that has been developed over millenia and I feel that the public needs to appreciate the artform much more. I remember going to an exhibit in the Brooklyn Museum that highlighted the artistry of Japanese Shadow puppetry, and I watched an engaging shadow puppetry performance which made me love puppets. The article showed a very interesting circumstance where the French puppeteer was still abke to have performances as theatres were closed across the country. I think that based on my own experiences, puppetry at a young age is an invaluable experience that opens children up to the artform of performance and theatre in a calm and educatonal way.
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