Online Hand-Rod Puppet Show

In a dark night,a couple of gray figures jumped on the top of a wall and snuck into a grain barn.All of a sudden,a bolt of orange hits the gray figures and pins them under its claws.

At 10:00 am on May 26,the rehearsal hall at the Puppet Show Center of the Wuhan People’s Art Theater was crowded with actors.Several young puppet actors were preparing for the puppet show titled “Mistaken Bonus.”

The puppet show has been suspended for over four months since January 20 because of the COVID-19 outbreak.However,to maintain their best state for performance,the young actors aged 18 to 23 didn’t stop training.

With the right hand operating the puppet and the left holding the rod,the puppet actors hide behind the stage setting and perform vividly.They operate the puppets,conveying their motives and emotions through hand gestures.A puppet actor is more than just an “operator.” “He has to get into the character of a puppet so that he can perform with precise gestures and emotions,” Mr.Zhuang Yuan,a Wuhan Hand-rod puppeteer and Director of the Wuhan Puppet Show Center,said in an interview.

The actress makes a cat puppet attack a rat in the play Mistaken Bonus 《錯誤的獎賞》中，演員操縱大貓撲向老鼠

The 8-meter-long silk sleeves move like a rainbow in the sky水袖長達8 米，舞起來如天邊飄過的霓虹

黑乎乎的墻頭上，突然躥出了幾只形跡可疑的灰色身影，它們躡手躡腳地接近囤滿糧食的糧倉，忽然，一道橙黃色的“閃電”撲了過來，將這灰色壓在爪下……

5月26日上午10 時，武漢人藝木偶劇中心的排練廳熱鬧了起來，年輕的木偶劇演員們正抓緊時間熱身，這場名為《錯誤的獎賞》的木偶短劇，正好給了大家練手的機會。

從1月20日暫別舞臺，木偶劇中心的木偶戲已有4 個多月沒跟小觀眾們見面了，但為了保持最佳演出狀態，即便在疫情期間，這群18 歲到23 歲的年輕演員們，也在各自堅持基本功訓練。

右手操偶，左手執桿。正式演出時，木偶劇演員隱藏在舞美背景之后，只憑木偶在臺前傳遞故事與情感，但這并不意味著木偶劇演員只是一位“操控師”，“好的演員必須人偶合一，木偶在前臺給出的身段、情緒，全部來自于演員。”采訪中，武漢杖頭木偶傳承人、武漢人藝木偶劇藝術中心主任莊源說。

“人偶合一”，這背后的功力可不簡單。木偶輕則2 公斤左右，重的足有4 公斤，要單手舉起不晃不抖，就需要演員們每天至少花上兩小時練臂力。武漢杖頭木偶在發展過程中吸收了楚劇、漢劇精華，這就要求木偶劇演員在身段、動作上最好能跟戲曲演員媲美。再加上木偶表演還隔著木偶這個載體，要精準傳遞角色的喜怒哀樂，演員就得投入更深刻的情感。

“Getting into a puppet” is not an easy task.The wooden puppet weighs 2-4 kg each.The actors have to spend at least two hours exercising their upper arms so that they can hold the puppet steadily with one hand.By absorbing the elements of Chu Opera and Han Opera,the Wuhan Hand-rod Puppet needs the actors to master the opera actors’ movements and gestures.

All the puppets were stored in the center during the outbreak.How did the actors exercise themselves without the tools?

Chen Jinyu is a seventhgeneration hand-rod puppet actor.It took her five years from age 16 to 21 to finally master the skills ofLong Sleeve,a classic play.The silk sleeves worn by the puppet in the show are eight meters long and look like a rainbow on the sky when they are played.Although she can train her arm strength by holding heavy objects at home,she can only practice the opera movements and gestures again and again without the props.

On May 6 when the actors returned to the center,Chen Jinyu took out the props and practiced her gestures.A few minutes later,she was relieved,“Luckily,my skills didn’t get rusty.”

The actors are all back,but how they can attract the attention of their audience,particularly the children,is a new challenge for them.

They came up with a good idea—an online show.They decided to do a live show via an online platform.

On May 9,their classic puppet showThe Dumb Wolfwas broadcast live on Douyu,a popular online platform.To Zhuang Yuan’s surprise,around 3000 people swarmed into the studio at the same time.The Dumb Wolfwas broadcast 6 times,and at its peak attracted 5000 live online viewers.

To meet the needs of the children,the Puppet Show Center sent two teams to perform outdoors in Huanggang and Wuxue,two cities of central China’s Hubei Province,on May 30.This marked the first time for these actors to meet the audience face to face in several months.

The actors cherished this opportunity and made an all-out effort to prepare for the show.They presented several classic plays to the audience,includingLittle Red Riding Hood,The Tortoise and the Hare,andThe Adventure of Little Carp.Zhuang Yuan said,“Meeting the audience outdoors was an exciting experience!”

Dozens of wooden puppets they use are more than ten years old and need to be renewed,so Zhuang Yuan is preparing to apply for special funds to update their props.As the pandemic has come under control,the Puppet Center is also resuming to normal.“Now that everything is getting better,I am coming back as an actor again.” Zhuang Yuan said.(Translation: Li Li)

Steady as a rock,the actor controls a puppet skillfully 不抖不晃，舉木偶靠的是真功夫

疫情期間，木偶存放在中心，手上沒了東西，演員們怎么練功？

陳金玉是武漢杖頭木偶第七代演員，從16 歲練到21 歲才掌握了團里保留節目《長袖》的技巧。她說，沒有木偶，自己在家就托舉重物。《長袖》表演中的“長袖女”水袖長達8 米，甩起來如天邊飄過的霓虹，手邊沒有道具，她就一天不落地練戲曲身段和形體。

5月6日，木偶劇中心所有演員回歸排練，陳金玉從道具箱里拿出“長袖女”操練，心里的石頭才落了地，“還好，沒生疏！”

劇團恢復了，怎么讓居家的小朋友看上木偶劇卻是個問題。

劇團與云平臺商量，通過云平臺進行直播。

5月9日，經典木偶劇《笨笨狼》登陸斗魚直播，大出莊源所料，直播間同時涌進3000 人。《笨笨狼》直播6 場，最高峰時有5000 人在線觀看。

孩子們喜歡，木偶劇中心也要走得更遠。5月30日，中心演員分成兩個隊伍前往黃岡、武穴進行戶外演出，幾個月以來第一次跟觀眾現場見面。

為此，演員們特別重視這幾次演出，精心準備了《小紅帽》《龜兔賽跑》《別看我小》等經典節目。莊源說：“現在能讓我們在戶外見觀眾，這就是個好的信號！”

眼下，團里有些木偶的年齡都也有幾十歲了，莊源正準備申請經費，完成保留節目道具的翻新。隨著疫情期間的陰霾散去，劇團正在回歸常態。“一切都好起來了，我又回到演員這具身體里了。”莊源說。