Transition stage

When Taiwan was released from Japanese rule in 1945, the traditional Hand Puppetry troupes were revived. However, the Kuomintang (KMT) took over the reins of government and, because of political concerns at that time, prohibited non-official social gatherings in 1947 (Chiang, 1995: 30), when Hand Puppetry shifted to indoor theatre stages rather than outdoor stages at temple fairs (Chiang, 1991: 59). Nevertheless, it was not long before outdoor-stage performances were allowed; in fact, Taiwanese Opera was first introduced to theatres in 1908, and the indoor theatre stage Hand Puppetry began to be commercially-orientated in the 1950s (Hsieh, 009: 162-165).

At that time, the number of theatres was dramatically increasing and they were frequently fully occupied. If troupes were not competent, they could not survive in such fierce competition. Meanwhile, indoor theatre stage Hand Puppetry was prevalent, and since the traditional historical novels were no longer applicable, Indoor-stage Hand Puppetry troupes

began to write their own new scenarios to attract audiences. From 1952, troupes made use of conflict and weird stories, and attached importance to puppeteer modelling and visual effects, competing with each other for glamour in what later became ‘Golden Light Hand Puppetry’, with more light and sounds (Chou, 1996: 64-65). In addition, they abandoned the traditional backstage music and used Western film themes instead. They applied seven different coloured lights (Fig. 6.1) and firecrackers to shock the audience (Lu, 1995: 103; Hsieh, 2009: 188). One of the participants illustrated how this had an effect:

We used two electric wires knotted together and made an explosive noise with a short circuit (Fig. 6.2-3). In the martial art fighting play, a boom sound was caused at the very final moment the villain fell down. Performers used gunpowder shaped like a pill. Then, troupes developed a gunpowder stand made of train rails, gradually upgraded from 1 firing hole to 5, 20, and 30 firing holes, to produce smoke when the puppets came on to the stage.

(HP08, Male, Head of Troupe)

Moreover, temples, towers, scenery with hills and water, and peculiar stones were being substituted for traditional carved wooden platforms (Chiu, 2004: 386-387). The indoor theatre stage was designed with a wide front space and the background was correspondingly wider. In the past, theatres had three stages, so were called triple play stages, and this design was also adopted by Outdoor-Stage Hand Puppetry troupes. By virtue of the expansion of the stage, the puppets’ size was increased from about 25 cm to 53 cm, which had the effect that the audience

at the back could see the performance clearly (Lu, 1995: 103). One of respondents recalled:

When I was an apprentice around the time of the 1960s, I saw very large puppets. Some of them were almost like real people, and their eyes and mouths were movable.

(HP08, Male, Head of Troupe)

Figure 6.2 Old type sound effects maker Figure 6.3 Pedal to make noise

As already mentioned, TTV was established in 1962, and this was followed by the launch of China Television Company (CTV) in 1969, and Chinese Television System (CTS)

in 1971, and because of the universal nature of televisions, audiences could watch entertainment programmes for free at home. Theatres faced a huge decrease in business (Chiu, 2000: 43), and indoor theatre stage Hand Puppetry found it hard to survive. It is worth noting that, at this time, although numerous performers were forced to end their careers, most of them returned to playing on outdoor stages. After a final play in Kaohsiung in 1989, Hand Puppetry ended its era of indoor theatre stage (Wu, 2005:153).

Hand Puppetry is a type of sound artistry, in which the spirit of the whole play revolves around the vocal leader telling a story. This form of entertainment has been broadcast since 1969, when audiences were allowed to listen to the radio while they were working. It is worth noting that many indoor-stage artists switched to this line of ‘Radio Hand Puppetry’, while also selling patented medicine for a commercial income (Chen, 2007: 225; Hsieh, 2009: 210). In terms of Hand Puppetry films, there were only four of these in its history, produced in 1958, 1967, 1968, and 2000 (Chen, 2007: 226-230).

From 1970 to 1974, TV Hand Puppetry became remarkable because of a famous series of programmes, ‘The Scholar Swordsman’. At that time, TV Hand Puppetry was performed

live, and the puppets were manipulated with pre-recorded vocals. There were fierce battles for viewers between 1982 and 1989 (Chen, 2007). Meanwhile, outdoor-stage troupes were influenced by TV Hand Puppetry and tried their best to make the same effects as the TV

performances (HP08, Male, Head of Troupe). However, a number of practitioners were keen to reduce their costs and took more cases, and certain vocal leaders recorded their vocals to be released on cassettes. This meant that performers could easily play the tapes for the themes without having to use their ‘meaty sounds’ while manipulating the puppets (Figs. 6.4-5).

Figure 6.4-5 Player and cassette tapes of Recording Hand Puppetry

Thereafter, ‘Recording Hand Puppetry’ was generated after 1985, and these instant performances are still widely-seen today (HP08, Male, Head of Troupe; HP09, Male, Puppeteer; HP10, Male, Head of Troupe; Hsieh, 2009: 215-216). In 1990, TV Hand Puppetry was extended to a cable channel (CATV), and its story-telling heroism changed to a contest of wit among groups, producing a new era of main roles and forming relevant creative industries (Chen, 2007) . Tables 6.2 illustrates a chronology of development of Hand Pupptery by types as follows:

Period Types Briefs Mid-19th

century

Longdi Play The Longdi Play was also referred to as the basket-bottom play, as baskets were used to collect the stage props. All the scripts were usually put at the bottom of the basket. Mid-19th

century - end of 19th century

Nanguan Play The performance of the Nanguan Play was elegant and gentle, and all roles would recite an opening poem to introduce themselves.

End of 19th century

Beiguan Hand Puppetry Beiguan Hand Puppetry had more martial art plays and special techniques, and its stories were mainly adapted from numerous chivalrous novels, presenting various views.

Early of 20th century - present

Ancient Books Play In the past, chapters of historical novels were generally regarded as being parts of real history. Therefore, these novels were considered as ancient books.

Early of 20th _century

- present

Swordsmen Play The characters of swordsmen were mainly hyped up, and may have been able to do acrobatics and use magic.

1937 - 1945 Japanised Hand Puppetry The Kominka Movement Japanised traditional Hand Puppetry.

Mid-19th century - present

Outdoor-stage Hand Puppetry

The practitioners of Outdoor-Stage Hand Puppetry were influenced by Indoor-stage and TV Hand Puppetry. They always tried their best to copy the same effects.

1908 - 1989 Indoor-stage Hand Puppetry Indoor-stage Hand Puppetry was

commercially- orientated. In order to attract the audience, troupes began to write their own scenarios.

1952 - present

Golden Light Hand Puppetry Troupes made use of conflict and weird stories and emphasised puppeteer modelling and visual effects to form Golden Light Hand Puppetry with more light and sounds.

1969 - present

Radio Hand Puppetry The same as Radio Taiwanese Opera 1958 - 2000 Hand Puppetry Films The same as Taiwanese Opera Films 1985 Recording Hand Puppetry Certain troupes’ vocal leaders recorded

their vocals onto cassettes for release or instant performances.

1962 - present

TV Hand Puppetry TV Hand Puppetry relies on scene setting, editing and post-production, which could be regarded as being a type of animation. In particular, it has brought about a new era, puppet idols, and creative industries. Table 6.2 Types of Hand Puppetry