Puppeteer Granny

A commotion aroused by a female puppeteer in male arena of traditional glove puppetry
“The Puppeteer Granny” portrays Taiwanese social life in the 1950s as well as the life of Si-mei Jiang, the first female glove puppeteer in Taiwan. Through this play we see her legendary career, on stage and in travel; we also see the rise and fall of modern glove puppetry is thus a witness of the social development in Taiwan. In the space in which the stage resembles a ring, the interactions of actors, glove puppets and table-up puppets express various dimensions of external and internal emotions and dramatic intensity between reality and virtuality. The puppeteers also reveal themselves on the stage as the characters of puppeteers. “The Puppeteer Granny” is such a play of conversations of reality and imagination, sadness and joy, and the modern and the traditional.

Program of “Mad Elite Festival,”National Theater
Premiere: Oct. 21, 2005 / Experimental Theater, Taipei
Playwright: Fu-chin CHIANG
Director: Fu-chin CHIANG, Chia-yin CHENG