Events
& Happenings
2004/2005
Between Tradition & Contemporary Concerns: The Re-making of a Marionette Troupe
This DVD features the traditional stringed puppets of Burma (Myanmar). It documents the journeys undertaken by a modern day puppet troupe in ensuring the survival and relevance of the artform in a rapidly changing Burma (Myanmar).
The content of the DVD covers several aspect and includes:
- the training and teaching strategies employed by the selected artists
- their rehearsal process and performances
- the nature of the performance venues ie. In a village, in a temple, etc
- the frames for the performance venues ie. Whether they take place within the social like of the community or the religious arena
- the artist’s world view of self, community, cultural identity and aesthetics
- the myths and history of the art form
- the comparative study of the development of a particular art form and is source culture
- the process of translation/interpretation ie. How he artists communicate from their various cultural and artistic frames
Disc 1 sees Ma Ma Naing and members of the Mandalay Marionettes Theatre as they prepare to put-up a performance at a local religious festival while Disc 2 features two full-length documentation of a modern play on AIDS and a popular legend about an immigrant with special powers at the overnight performances of the religious festival.
About the series
The DVD series, Roots, Re-invention and Continuity in Changing Times is a TheatreWorks’ initiative to document the changes and challenges faced by Southeast Asian performing arts and artists in an evolving Asia. This project is conceived and initiated by TheatreWorks’ Artistic Director Ong Keng Sen. With the committed support from the Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Programme, NUS (SEASREP), it is a four-year journey across six countries namely Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to excavate stories of resilience, re-invention and remembering through the eyes of the artists and their community.
For enquiries and order, please call 6338-4077.