☆Invitation
PUK invite Prof. Nikolina Georgieva, in order to ask lead and
direction of "Carnival of Animals" for PUK's young
ensemble in this autumn for the program "La Pupa Teatro
12", the puppet show for grown-up which will be held at
PUK Puppet Theatre, Shinjuku, Tokyo.
★Study abroad (Bulgaria)
Student; Mari Kodama
Graduated; "NATFA" National Academy For Theatre and
Film Arts (1 year course for student from abroad) on Feb. 2008
★titirijai 07
International Puppet Festival of Tolosa (Spain) & "Window
to Czecho puppetry"
Period; 24th November~ 2nd December 2007
Participated; Tamiko Onagi
★The 18th Asian Monodrama
Festival / Geochange（Korea)
Period; 7th ~ 9th September 2007
Participated; Yuriko Hayakawa, Lumi Takabatake, Ayako Ichihashi
Organized; Asian Monodrama Association
★The Wxecutive Meeting of UNIMA and International Puppet
Festival "materinka 07"
Period; 14th ~ 26th June 2007
Attended; Tamiko Onagi
Organized; The Naives Theatre of Liberec (Czecho)
STUDY ABROAD
★Mari Kodama is now studying the design of Puppetry in NATFFA(National
Academy for Theatre and Film Arts/Sofia Bulgaria) Which Prof.
Nikolina Georgieva teaching there.( from on 1st of March 2007)
TEREMAKASHI!(Thank you in
Malaysian)
2007/Jan/16th-22th
by Machiko Watanabe
It was about ten years ago that we started offering theater-play
workshops using puppets made of newspapers. It does not require
any props and is very inexpensive as all it takes is some newspapers
and some scotch tape to make these simple puppets. But the workshop
has been quite successful, perhaps because children can freely
create whatever they imagine.
This January, I was invited to Malaysia to give this workshop
to Malay children. (It was during last fall’s monodrama festival
in Cheju Island, South Korea that this workshop was spotted but
a teacher of an acting school in Malaysia). But the main purpose
of my visit was to make large-size puppets using carton boxes
and newspapers with the children and then to parade with them
during the Kid's Carnival organized during a school bazaar.
During the workshop, there were some children who were left out
and other who got easily bored. However, the older students and
adult staff dealt with them exemplarily, showing them understanding
and not forcing them. I was happy to see that Malay children
are brought up with such love. I left Malaysia with love and
respect for Malay people who have similar sensitivity as the
Japanese people.
“A Tiny Pink Dragon” overseas
performance
2007/Mar/7th-14th
by Harunobu Shimizu
The seven members of PUK Puppet Theater were invited to Taiwan
by If Kids Theatre Company (Taipei) this March as the first performance
in Taiwan. For this occasion, we chose “A Tiny Pink Dragon” which
has been performed in Japan for many years and popular among
Japanese children.
The performance took place Taipei County Art & Culture
Auditorium, which is located near Taipei City. We performed a
total fo four shows during March 10~11, 2007. The 750 seats of
the auditorium were almost completely full for all of the four
shows. We have prepared as much Chinese lines as possible in
order to communicate the content of the performance. Despite
the language barrier, we were able to communicate the message
of the performance by saying key lines in the play in Chinese
and thanks to Chinese super-title that the organizer had kindly
prepared.
The vice mayor of Taipei was present among the audience and
I still remember how he had a big smile like a child as he watched
the performance.
On March 12th and 13th, we held a series of workshops on hand-held
puppetry, from of Kuruma-Ningyo, and shadow theater.
Taiwan Performance full of Energy
by Mamika Kirioka
Mr. Tzu-Chang Chao(C.E.O.), the director of the company named
it “IF” with the wish to communicate the importance of having
a dream. Mr.Tzu-Chang Chao saw our performance of “A Tiny Pink
Dragon” about a year ago in Japan and he felt that the main message
of our show was the same as his theatre's: importance of dreaming.
He says that Pink Dragon not only made the audience laugh but
it had an important story to tell. He wished to show our work
to Taiwanese children and that is how our trip realized.
In Taiwan, we were greeted by numerous press conferences and
TV interview. We were quite nervous as we haven't had much experience
in giving press conferences but thanks to the PR effort, the
theatre was packed with audience for all four performances that
took place over two days.
As for the performance, the actors and the audience were able
to share a moment full of intensity and energy. For this performance,
we decided to say some of the lines in Chinese. In the beginning,
the audience reacted and cheered every time they heard a line
in Chinese but later in the show, they became used to it and
they were absorbed in the play. Especially in the scene where
Hatch seeks the pink dragon saying desperately, saying “Where
are you? Pink dragon!” in Chinese, we could sense that the audience
is completely taken in to the world we have created on stage.
When the show was over, we were greeted with a thunder of applause.
The enthusiasm of the audience was at a level that we rarely
see in Japan and we took one curtain call after another. Later
at the lobby, we were surrounded by a crowd of people seeking
hand shake and photo.
The members of IF Kids Theatre supported us fully throughout
our stay in Taiwan, taking care of us off the stage and on the
stage for preparation. So much so that by the end of the very
last show, we were so moved that we hugged and cried with them.
We felt that the success of our performances was owes everything
to our working together. We communicated in a bit of Japanese,
Chinese and English but we managed to understand each other.
☆BALKAN PENINSULA TOUR
&
19th UNIMA PARTICIPATION ２００4
From
May 24th until June
5th 2004,
“Aya and Jirokichi, the Wolf” embarked on a Balkan Tour, visiting
four countries of Greece,
Bulgaria,
Serbia-Montenegro and Croatia,
performing in local puppet theatres (except in Croatia
where we participated in UNIMA Festival).
“Aya
and Jirokichi, the Wolf” is a story about how Jirokichi grows
to love an abandoned child, Aya, with a father’s love as he raises
her. Perhaps thanks to its simple story line, house full of children
were completely taken by the show and
the theatres were filled with laughter and applause wherever
we performed. The Opening
Act incorporating Japanese traditional acts were very popular
and the audiences seemed to be pleased with our effort to insert
lines in local language in the show.
We
must also not forget the attention and the support of the theatre
staffs. In all the theatres we performed in, we were blessed
with highly talented staffs who are devoted to puppetry and it
is thanks to them that we managed to perform successful shows.
Our
Balkan Tour culminated in Croatia
where we participated in the 19th Congress and Festival
of UNIMA from June 6th through 12th. There,
new PUK members joined us from Tokyo
to perform “Tenshu Monogatari” for adults as
well as “Aya and Jirokichi,
the Wolf” fro children.
“Tenshu
Monogatari” is a story of tragic love between a warrior and a
phantom that appears in a castle. Even though most of the lines
were in Japanese, the audiences seemed to be taken by the show
and greeted us with a big applause.
Audiences
of wide age range came to see the two shows and there were long
lines of those who wanted to see the puppets after each show.
We
also would like to note the devoted assistance of the staffs
of Kalvarija
Cultural
Center
and share the success of our performance with them.
☆PUK invites PETROVA Maya
!２００３
Long-awaited Art of Maya Petrova: Maya’s Art Leading Nishimoto’s
Direction.
Puppet Theatre PUK annualy presents a new work aimed at children.
This year,
we have asked Professor Maya Petrova for the stage design of
our new work.
PUK has a long history of friendship with puppeteers in Bulgaria.
As the Art Workshop that Maya taught in 2001 turned out to be
a great success, and as we were all struck by the magical world
of the artist, we have asked Maya to return this year for another
workshop.
☆Puppet Fair in SOFIA
Participated: Sachiko Irisawa
Period: 22th~28th May 2003
☆Geryong Mountain God's Ritual Festival
presented by Gongju Folk Drama Museum
Participated: Machiko Watanabe, katsuyoshi Nishimoto
Presented: "Kappore", "Nankin-Tama-Sudare"
Period: 16th~20th Apr 2003
☆Takeshi
Hoshino collaborates in Creating a production of puppetry in
New Zealand
Sponsorship: Capital E's National Theatre for Children, Wellington
*To provide young New Zealand's actors with the experience of
working with
Japanese Director/designer experienced in the art of puppetry
Period: 20th Aug~ 21 Sep 2002
☆30th Anniversary
of PUK PUPPET THEATRE
-SPECIAL-
Presentation: Puppet Theatre for grown-ups
Sim Woo-Sung's Monodrama "Kyolhon-kut"
The Marriage of the souls
Period: 8th~10th August 2001
☆Puk's 'TROUPES FROM ABROAD' Series -SPECIAL-
Teatro Naku presented
"mujeres-a cuatro manos-"
by Sonia Gonzales and Lilian Maa 'Dhoor
Sponsorship: Venezuela Embassy
Period: 4th & 5th April 1999
★Takeshi
Hoshino collaborates in Creating a production of puppetry in
New Zealand
Sponsorship: Capital E's National Theatre for Children, Wellington
*To provide young New Zealand's actors with the experience of
working with Japanese Director/designer experienced in the art
of puppetry
Period: 20th Aug~ 21 Sep 2002
★Geryong Mountain God's Ritual Festival
presented by Gongju Folk Drama Museum
Participated: Tatsuo Satoh, Sachiko Harayama
Presented: "Kappore", "Sambaso", "Nankin-Tama-Sudare"
Period: 26th~28th Apr 2002
★Study Abroad -BULGARIA-
Katsuyoshi Nishimoto is now study "puppetry" at NATFIS
(NATIONAL ACADEMY FOR THEATRE AND FILM ARTS) "KRUSTYO SARAFOV"
-Sofia; Puppetry Department
Period: Sep 2001~ Aug 2002
★8 Days
Tour for Czech Republic
Visited: Divadlo DRAK (Hradec Klalove)
Naivni Divadlo (Liberec)
Play-going: "All Scamper What Feathers Has" at Drak
Theatre
"Alibaba and Forty Thieves" at The Naive Theatre
Period: 10th~17th Nov 2001
Participated: Toyoko Takeuchi, Tomoaki Fukumura
★The 6th Gonju Asia Monodrama Festival
presented by Gongju Folk Drama Museum
Participated: Naoto Kohro
Presented: "Kappore" and "Sambaso"
Period: 5th~7th Oct 2001
* Puppet Stage "EMI" presented "Three Pigs"
★"CHILDREN FIRST"
Singapole Theatre Festival For Children
presented by act3
Participated: Tatsuo Satoh, Tsutomu Mikami, Ei Aoki,
Ayako Ichihashi, Shoko Nakayama
Period: 6th~15th Mar 2000
Presented: "Rabbits School""Scarf Fantasy"
★ⅩIII UNIMA CONGRESS
2000 MAGDEBURG, GERMANY
Period: 24th Jun ~2nd Jul 2000
Participated: Kiichi Sone, Toyoko Takeuchi, Mariko Kishimoto,
Tamiko Onagi(Council of UNIMA), Junko Arakawa, Lumi Takabatake,
Katsuyoshi Nishimoto, Shizuki Noda, Nobuko Ishida, Keimei Muta,
Mieko Nakano
"Tea-time Japan"
Presented: "Vaudeville" & "Peter and Mollie"
(M.Kishimoto and K.Muta) as the seventh anniversary of Taiji
Kawajiri's death
★SPECIAL LECTURE & WORKSHOP
BY Prof. Todorka Rouskova and Ass. Prof. Maia Petrova
Theme: "Re: Direction and Design for Puppetry"
Listener: Directors, players, producers, designers, etc. at PUK
Period: 22th Mar ~2nd Apr 2001
*T.Rouskova give an audition to Puk's player for "Flight
with Gloves" as 30th Anniversary of Puk Puppet Theatre house
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