Have you heard the story of Pinocchio in your childhood? In the story, after many adventures and as many wise lessons, Pinocchio’s fondest dream comes true: he is transformed into a real boy. In the end, being good is rewarded.
In South China, puppets also experienced many ‘adventures’ on the stage. The ones who manipulate the puppets are called puppeteers. Cui Keqin is a well-known Chinese puppeteer and one of the star performers of the Puppet Troupe of Guangdong. The troupe's "Monkey King" and the "Magic Fan" won prizes for excellent repertoire at the National Puppet Show Festival in 1959. Cui’s puppets are renowned for their vividness, fine polishing, ingenuity and originality - each possessing its own special characteristics. The troupe sent the puppets as presents to Cambodia, Burma, Pakistan, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, France, America, Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as the International Puppets Arts Association.
Daria has watched many puppet shows in her hometown Russia since she was a child. She was very curious about how the puppeteers play the puppets on the stage. In this episode of ‘Master’, she came to the Guangdong Puppet Troupe to explore the unique story behind the puppet show with master Cui Keqin.
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