Online Hand-Rod Puppet Show

In a dark night,a couple of gray figures jumped on the top of a wall and snuck into a grain barn.All of a sudden,a bolt of orange hits the gray figures and pins them under its claws.

At 10:00 am on May 26,the rehearsal hall at the Puppet Show Center of the Wuhan People’s Art Theater was crowded with actors.Several young puppet actors were preparing for the puppet show titled “Mistaken Bonus.”

The puppet show has been suspended for over four months since January 20 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.However,to maintain their best state for performance,the young actors aged 18 to 23 didn’t stop training.

With the right hand operating the puppet and the left holding the rod,the puppet actors hide behind the stage setting and perform vividly.They operate the puppets,conveying their motives and emotions through hand gestures.A puppet actor is more than just an “operator.” “He has to get into the character of a puppet so that he can perform with precise gestures and emotions,” Mr.Zhuang Yuan,a Wuhan Hand-rod puppeteer and Director of the Wuhan Puppet Show Center,said in an interview.

The actress makes a cat puppet attack a rat in the play Mistaken Bonus 《错误的奖赏》中，演员操纵大猫扑向老鼠

The 8-meter-long silk sleeves move like a rainbow in the sky水袖长达8 米，舞起来如天边飘过的霓虹

黑乎乎的墙头上，突然蹿出了几只形迹可疑的灰色身影，它们蹑手蹑脚地接近囤满粮食的粮仓，忽然，一道橙黄色的“闪电”扑了过来，将这灰色压在爪下……

5月26日上午10 时，武汉人艺木偶剧中心的排练厅热闹了起来，年轻的木偶剧演员们正抓紧时间热身，这场名为《错误的奖赏》的木偶短剧，正好给了大家练手的机会。

从1月20日暂别舞台，木偶剧中心的木偶戏已有4 个多月没跟小观众们见面了，但为了保持最佳演出状态，即便在疫情期间，这群18 岁到23 岁的年轻演员们，也在各自坚持基本功训练。

右手操偶，左手执杆。正式演出时，木偶剧演员隐藏在舞美背景之后，只凭木偶在台前传递故事与情感，但这并不意味着木偶剧演员只是一位“操控师”，“好的演员必须人偶合一，木偶在前台给出的身段、情绪，全部来自于演员。”采访中，武汉杖头木偶传承人、武汉人艺木偶剧艺术中心主任庄源说。

“人偶合一”，这背后的功力可不简单。木偶轻则2 公斤左右，重的足有4 公斤，要单手举起不晃不抖，就需要演员们每天至少花上两小时练臂力。武汉杖头木偶在发展过程中吸收了楚剧、汉剧精华，这就要求木偶剧演员在身段、动作上最好能跟戏曲演员媲美。再加上木偶表演还隔着木偶这个载体，要精准传递角色的喜怒哀乐，演员就得投入更深刻的情感。

“Getting into a puppet” is not an easy task.The wooden puppet weighs 2-4 kg each.The actors have to spend at least two hours exercising their upper arms so that they can hold the puppet steadily with one hand.By absorbing the elements of Chu Opera and Han Opera,the Wuhan Hand-rod Puppet needs the actors to master the opera actors’ movements and gestures.

All the puppets were stored in the center during the outbreak.How did the actors exercise themselves without the tools?

Chen Jinyu is a seventhgeneration hand-rod puppet actor.It took her five years from age 16 to 21 to finally master the skills ofLong Sleeve,a classic play.The silk sleeves worn by the puppet in the show are eight meters long and look like a rainbow on the sky when they are played.Although she can train her arm strength by holding heavy objects at home,she can only practice the opera movements and gestures again and again without the props.

On May 6 when the actors returned to the center,Chen Jinyu took out the props and practiced her gestures.A few minutes later,she was relieved,“Luckily,my skills didn’t get rusty.”

The actors are all back,but how they can attract the attention of their audience,particularly the children,is a new challenge for them.

They came up with a good idea—an online show.They decided to do a live show via an online platform.

On May 9,their classic puppet showThe Dumb Wolfwas broadcast live on Douyu,a popular online platform.To Zhuang Yuan’s surprise,around 3000 people swarmed into the studio at the same time.The Dumb Wolfwas broadcast 6 times,and at its peak attracted 5000 live online viewers.

To meet the needs of the children,the Puppet Show Center sent two teams to perform outdoors in Huanggang and Wuxue,two cities of central China’s Hubei Province,on May 30.This marked the first time for these actors to meet the audience face to face in several months.

The actors cherished this opportunity and made an all-out effort to prepare for the show.They presented several classic plays to the audience,includingLittle Red Riding Hood,The Tortoise and the Hare,andThe Adventure of Little Carp.Zhuang Yuan said,“Meeting the audience outdoors was an exciting experience!”

Dozens of wooden puppets they use are more than ten years old and need to be renewed,so Zhuang Yuan is preparing to apply for special funds to update their props.As the pandemic has come under control,the Puppet Center is also resuming to normal.“Now that everything is getting better,I am coming back as an actor again.” Zhuang Yuan said.(Translation: Li Li)

Steady as a rock,the actor controls a puppet skillfully 不抖不晃，举木偶靠的是真功夫

疫情期间，木偶存放在中心，手上没了东西，演员们怎么练功？