Yunlin International Puppet Theater Festival in Taiwan takes the stage Oct. 6

台灣雲林國際偶戲節於10月6日登場

The fest will spotlight a documentary about Taiwan's glove puppetry guru Chen Xi-huang


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The 2018 Yunlin International Puppet Theater Festival ( 2018 Yunlin International Puppet Festival) is taking place at the Agricultural Expo Ecological Park in Huwei Township between Oct. 6 and Oct.

The showcase will feature performances brought by Taiwan's glove puppetry, or Budaixi (player), masters Huang Chun-hsiung ( 俊雄) and Liao Wen-ho (廖文和), as well as screenings of the documentary "Father" (red box) that tells the story of the renowned Taiwanese puppeteer Chen Xi-huang ( 煌) filmed over the course of a decade by director Yang Li-chou ( 力州), reported CNA .

In a press conference on Oct. 1 to promote the event, Chen proved his mastery of the art by manipulating puppets to perform lifelike movements. For example waving a miniature fan and combing hair gracefully. "The art lies in transforming an inanimate puppet to one having a soul,” he said.


Taiwanese puppeteer Chen Xi-huang (Photo by CNA) Xi-huang ( 煌) (Photo by CNA)

The 87-year-old puppetry guru also expressed concern about the development of glove puppetry in Taiwan. Despite the heated talk of innovation, "we should do our best to revere and preserve tradition while injecting new concepts into puppetry performances," he lamented.

Other highlights of the 2018 Yunlin International Puppet Theater Festival will be shows presented by puppet troupes from the UK, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Serbia, as well as a puppetry competition involving ten teams from Taiwan.