The Introduction of Taiwanese Hand Puppet Theatre

Taiwanese Hand Puppet Theatre originated in Fujian , China and has a history of three hundred years. During the performance, the puppets are controlled by the hands of the puppeteers. This allows the puppets to have all kinds of vivid gestures and lifelike movements. There are five different sorts of the puppets: male roles, female roles, face-painted roles, elderly roles and comic roles. It is extremely difficult to be a puppeteer for all the characters in the play are performed by one person.

Until now, Taiwanese Hand Puppet Theatre has developed three manners of performance. With the “Traditional Hand Puppet Theatre”, the puppets have graceful movements and gestures. The scripts are all based on historical stories. The “Kin Kuan Hand Puppet Show” is famous for its visual and sound effects. The stories are often novel in order to attract the audience. The “TV Hand Puppet Theatre” originated here in Taiwan . Its styles of the puppets, stories and stages are quite different from the other two kinds of Hand Puppet Theatre. The “TV Hand Puppet Theatre” is all shot in the studio with the aids of technology. The audience can enjoy the play at home easily. It has the most audience in Taiwan nowadays.