Robert's Trip to a Puppet Show

This is Bunraku -- a traditional Japanese theater (puppetry). My school took a bunch of the exchange students to experience this old-style theater. It lasted for about three hours and I couldn't understand a word... I don't feel too bad about not understanding much, however. It was an interesting experience anyway. The men on stage did nothing but animate the puppet. They did not perform or say anything at all. All of the music and dialogue came from a separate crew who sat at the side of the stage. They sang and played instruments while the stage-hands moved the puppets. The men in the hoods moved the body of the puppet, while the unmasked men controlled the puppets head. Together, they were so very well syncronized and choreographed that the puppets moved like real people. Their eyebrows moved up and down as well as their mouths, and all of their mannerisms were so fluid that after a while you forgot that all of the stagehands were even there. Cool!






These were the narrators and musicians. Even though I could not understand them, their performances were so impassioned that words were not important. I actually enjoyed watching these guys more than the actual show...



I have some short movie clips of the show... Hopefully I can figure out how to upload them some time.