On the evening of July 16, the Puppet Performing Group of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group (Yangzhou Puppet Research Institute) went on the stage of the National Center for the Performing Arts with their elaborately crafted puppet play Chang’e Flying to the Moon. This debut of a classic play of Yangzhou in the Center celebrates the charm of traditional Yangzhou culture and the innovation of intangible cultural heritage.
The play initiated the application of holographic projection in the industry. The perfect combination of the puppets, the elements of shadow play, and the singing and dancing by real persons elevate the aesthetic level of the play and bring out the best of one another. With a fashionable audio-visual setting, the play tells the story of Chang’e sacrificing herself to save humankind in praise of the traditional national ethos of boundless love. It also exposes the audience to the new theme of the story—those who are kind and loving never fail to win respect from others.
Yangzhou rod puppets breathe new life into the ancient Chinese mythology and add a touch of fashion by virtue of modern technologies and diverse means of artistic expression. The play demonstrates the charm of traditional puppetry as well as the new vigor of intangible cultural heritage.
The play could not have been favored by the National Center for the Performing Arts without the resolution, dedication and wholeheartedness of the Puppet Performing Group of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group and the creative team of the play. They refined the script, performance, modelling of the puppets, stage design and music design during performing tour across China, making the play increasingly sophisticated. The play has been included as a project sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and awarded the first Yangzhou Governmental Art and Literature Award (Theater and Folk Art). It has also swept the honor of Excellent Performance Play in the 2016 Traditional Chinese Puppet and Shadow Art Festival, and the award of Best Play, Group Performance Award and Styling and Costume Award in the second Nanchong International Puppet Art Week.
As the curtain went down, the nursery rhyme about Chang’e arose accompanied by the rhythmic applause of the audience. The rhyme goes, “Be it crescent or full, the moon climbs to the sky every night. Sister Chang’e lives in the moon and casts moonlight to the whole earth.” An American Chinese child named Michelle told the journalist that the play was the best she had ever watched. The word “best” is an approval of the puppet play Chang’e Flying to the Moon, a recognition of the development and innovation of intangible cultural heritage in Yangzhou, and an expectation on the future artistic creation of Puppet Performing Group of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group.
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