新和平加礼戏班

新和平加礼戏班

The Master Puppeteer

The Master Puppeteer
Mr Yang Lai Hao is the sole inheritor of Sin Hoe Ping Jia Li Puppet Troupe. Mr Yang was fascinated with the art of puppetry, while watching his grandfather, who bought the troupe over from Putian in Fujian in china in the 1930s. Mr Yang had mastered all the elements of puppetry including stage setup, back and front stage performance supports. The strings puppet are made by Mr Yang, including choosing of the costume, making DIY props. It took Mr Yang more than 10 years to master playing of the instruments, sing and manipulating the puppets. But with his passion towards this art form had kept him moving and become a Master puppeteer today.

Types of Puppetry

The troupe handles 2 different types of puppets, which is String Puppets (Jia Li Xi) and Hand Puppets (Pu Dai Xi) in 2 different languages, which are Hokkien & Heng Hwa.

The performances are usually tucked away in one secluded corner of a detached house or temple, far from the buzzing city. Traditional puppetry is a fascinating art form, for the puppets are playing not for human eyes, but for the Taoist deities which are usually held to commemorate the birthday of various gods (神诞）Save

Hand Puppetry 布袋戏

Hand Puppetry 布袋戏
Hand Puppetry are most common seen at the temples and streets than String Puppetry. Hand puppetry focus more on the palm and the fingers to move the puppets. The puppets are made of wood and the costumes are made of silk material. The face feature, different colour and design of costumes are used to differentiate the gender and types of puppets. Hand puppets is easier to pick up as compared to string puppets.

Hand Puppet Stage Backdrop

Hand Puppet Stage Backdrop
The stage used for strings and hand puppets is also different as it will be cater to allow performer to move around freely.

String Puppetry 加礼戏

String Puppetry 加礼戏
String Puppetry was the most traditional puppetry passed down from Putian China, it takes more than you can perform. String puppets are difficult to master as a formidable amount of practice and skills needed to perform a martial scene where puppets exchange blows or engage in intense fights; in the hands of unskilled puppeteers, many strings can become entangled. In the event of fights scene, the puppeteer will also be moving along with the puppets, focused in the scripts and roles together with the music turns the performance into a live case of puppets.

Life, On A String - Video

















A short clips of Wu Kong and Ba Jie before they set off their Journey.
















A nearer close up, you can see how the puppeteers actually manipulate the puppets.  This is a scene whereby Wu Song was battling with the tiger and kills the tiger with his bare hands.
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