Shan Puppet Theatre passes on Hakkanese culture through schools

With over 20 years experience in the field of glove puppetry, 37-year-old Huang Wu-shan (黃武山) is the director at Shan Puppet Theatre (山宛然布袋戲團). An introduction to master glover puppeteer Li Tien-lu (李天祿) when Huang Wu-shan was just a boy introduced to him the importance of cultural heritage, and opened the door for a lifetime of study and innovation in glove puppetry.

Shan Puppet Theatre, which was founded by Huang Wu-shan and a group of like-minded friends, visits schools to convey the spirit of Hakkanese culture. The theatre group also combines contemporary theatre and stage skills, revealing the normally concealed faces of the glove puppeteers for the first time. 

In order to facilitate the speedier understanding of the story by the audience, it was decided to incorporate the use of different languages and Hakka into performances, which actually contributes to the performances. In the course of each performance, theatre members also teach the children how to manipulate the puppets, which always stimulates an enthusiastic response. In spite of the painstaking preparations required for the stage building and the challenge of injecting the Hakkanese spirit into the performance, seeing so many smiling faces in the audience provides Shan Puppet Theatre with energy and motivation to continue.  

Shan Puppet Theatre passes on Hakkanese culture through schools

URL:https://www.peopo.org/news/280607

(以下是中文對照)

山宛然客家布袋戲團走入校園傳遞客家文化

37歲的黃武山是「山宛然布袋戲團」團長，他操弄戲偶已經二十多年，年少時認識了國寶級布袋戲大師－李天祿，便開啟了學習及創新布袋戲的生涯，深知文化傳承的重要性。黃武山是客家人，他與志同道合的朋友成立山宛然，奔波於各所學校，藉由布袋戲傳達客家精神，並將現代劇場與戲台結合，讓從不露面的演師也成了演員。
為了讓觀眾更快速融入故事，因此在表演的安排上，利用不同語言和客語相互搭配的效果，反而有助於演出。過程中也會教小朋友如何操弄戲偶，引起更熱烈的迴響。從搭台到演出的細瑣準備，再將客家精神注入戲中的角色，山宛然劇團從不感到辛苦，因為台下觀眾的笑容便是他們繼續邁進的動力。