The Teochew Puppetry tradition of Penang is a distinct and increasingly rare form of puppetry that narrates folk tales and legends through a skillful play of marionette puppets. It is a more traditional and challenging form of opera, requiring fast and fluid animation of puppets to imitate human-like gestures. Traditionally, puppetry troupes consist of nine members divided into groups of three to handle puppets, sing and play musical instruments. The orchestra comprises of gongs, drums, er hu and cymbals. Each puppet takes about two to three weeks to make and are hand-crafted from wood, clay and paper, weighing several kilograms each. Older puppets are made of tightly-packed bundles of hay. The puppets are controlled by iron-rods attached to the back and limbs. Each character would have its own newly-made costume, richly detailed, just like those of a regular Chinese opera performer.

With a history of about 700 years, founded by farmers. The art of Water Puppetry in Nguyen Xa and Dong Cac is associated with the water stage and traditional Cheo art. The plays are closely associated with the lives of farmers in the North. They created and preserved many special plays such as: Bat Tien Dance, Couple Swing, Ngu Phuong Play. The "lion dance" of Water Puppetry in Nguyen Xa and Dong Cac is unique in the whole country. The uniqueness right from the name "Water Puppetry" is that water is used as the stage for the performance. The surface of the pond is both the stage, the environment, the scenery, and a supporting character for the puppets to operate under the skillful control of the artists. In the art of water puppetry, the puppets are the direct actors and the most important technical facilities contributing to the success of the plays. The most diverse types of puppets from Uncle Tieu to Master Duong Tang, from large unicorns to small, cute ducks and fish... Uncle Teu from Nguyen village (Nguyen Xa commune) has become a familiar character, with the image of a healthy, plump, plump, rosy-skinned farmer with a cheerful smile without a trace of thought. Teu is a character that often appears at the beginning of the show, controlling the program, teaching students, maintaining order... very close to the optimistic and life-loving farmers who know how to take advantage of laughter in production and combat. In theory, they control the puppets with strings and poles, but they have their own secret to create the liveliness and charm of the water play. There is also a special puppet-making technique here. They do not pass on the profession to outsiders and girls. This is the cradle of training and teaching students for the Central Puppetry Theater. They are also invited to perform diplomatically in many places around the world. The art of water puppetry is a synthesis and multifaceted combination of many elements, creating uniqueness, magic and attraction from the stage, the play room, the puppets to other magical elements such as the machines controlling the artists, the plays and the stories. The art of Water Puppetry in Thai Binh is the crystallization of the creativity, intelligence and ingenuity of the people created over many generations and lasting over time.

It is an indigenous Kazakh performing art that combines theater, music, and puppetry. Some people say orteke is a street theatre, others might claim it is a musical instrument, some would see it as a decorative art, and children perceive it as a toy and use for entertainment. Orteke represents a simultaneous ensemble of music performance on Kazakh traditional two-stringed instrument dombyra and a hopping dance of a wooden puppet. Fixed on a surface of a traditional drum (daulpaz) by a metal rod a flexible wooden figure of teke (a mountain goat) is connected to the fingers of a musician by one or several threads. Flexible head and joints of a puppet are connected to the pulling string. As the musician strikes his/her fingers playing dombyra, the puppet starts hopping in sync with the beat set by an artist. The figure turns alive making amusing dancing movements and tapping a rhythmic beat on a firm skin surface of a drum.Some masters of genre can play with 3 and more puppets at the same time. Sound of dombra, audience public in anticipation, leather surface as flat as the steppe itself, and a small wooden figure of a mountain goat, tied to the puppeteer musician by a single thread, began to beat out the rhythm with its tiny hooves. This action, fascinating with its magical simplicity, is known among the Kazakh people as "Orteke", which is fancied by both children and adults.

Kazakhstan 2022

Renowned for its elaborate puppets and complex musical styles, this ancient form of storytelling originated on the Indonesian island of Java. For ten centuries wayang flourished at the royal courts of Java and Bali as well as in rural areas. Wayang has spread to other islands (Lombok, Madura, Sumatra and Borneo) where various local performance styles and musical accompaniments have developed. While these carefully handcrafted puppets vary in size, shape and style, two principal types prevail: the three-dimensional wooden puppet (wayang klitik or golèk) and the flat leather shadow puppet (wayang kulit) projected in front of a screen lit from behind. Both types are characterized by costumes, facial features and articulated body parts. The master puppeteer (dalang) manipulates the swivelling arms by means of slender sticks attached to the puppets. Singers and musicians play complex melodies on bronze instruments and gamelan drums. In the past, puppeteers were regarded as cultivated literary experts who transmitted moral and aesthetic values through their art. The words and actions of comic characters representing the “ordinary person” have provided a vehicle for criticizing sensitive social and political issues, and it is believed that this special role may have contributed to wayang’s survival over the centuries. Wayang stories borrow characters from indigenous myths, Indian epics and heroes from Persian tales. The repertory and performance techniques were transmitted orally within the families of puppeteers, musicians and puppet-makers. Master puppeteers are expected to memorize a vast repertory of stories and to recite ancient narrative passages and poetic songs in a witty and creative manner.

Indonesia 2008

The founder of the Thẩm Rộc puppet troupe is Mr. Ma Quang Bằng (ie Ma Công Bằng). Initially, the puppet set had 5-6 puppets, including 2 male and female puppets with a play/collection of father puppets and mother puppets. During the reign of Mr. Ma Quang Lai, the puppet set increased to 33 with images of mandarins, farmers, buffaloes, dogs, dragons, cranes, horses, geckos, etc. All puppets are shaped in association with aesthetic concepts in The art of painting worship paintings of the Tày people. Most puppets are controlled by bamboo sticks attached to the character's body, head, arms, and legs. The material used to make the puppet is "squid rope" wood. Shallow puppet performance tools include a black canvas stretched up as a stage, musical instruments (string, flute) along with teachings, and the skillful hands of the artist. While the men control the puppets, the women play the zither, sing the keys, and read the characters' lines. Teachings are often rhymed texts. The puppet's performing movements simulate the daily activities and productive labor of the Tày community. There are 16 stories recorded in Nôm Tày Writing. But currently, the puppet troupe can only perform 5 acts, because the remaining acts do not fit the context. The most typical performance of Tày land puppetry is the "tree climber catching gecko" trick. Land puppets are performed by the puppet troupe on holidays throughout the year such as Lunar New Year, Field Festival, etc.

Inscribed in 2009 (4.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Traditionally, the Namsadang troupes didn’t settle in one place but traveled around, performing their repertoire mostly for grassroots audiences. The only extant group today was originally based in a neighborhood near Cheongnyongsa, a Buddhist temple in Seoun-myeon, Anseong City, Gyeonggi-do Province. Until the early 20th century, this group traveled from village to village around the central district of Korea and sometimes farther to Manchuria in northeastern China. Through its active itinerant performances the group influenced folk entertainment, masked dance plays and seasonal games in various regions. The wandering entertainers lived on small earnings from their shows, usually staying in Buddhist temples. They sold amulets made by monks and donated part of their income to host temples. A Namsadang troupe needs some 40-50 male performers to present its full repertoire. Under the kkokdusoe, literally the “head actor”, the troupe has a planner (gombaengisoe), stage manager (ddeunsoe), actors (gayeol), apprentices (ppiri), elderly seniors (jeoseungpae), errand runners (jan simbureumkkun) and porters (deungjimkkun). They have a strict hierarchy and apprenticeship to hand down their skills from generation to generation. The six acts of their program may be explained as follows: • Farmers’ Band Music (Pungmul): The farmers’ music played by the current Namsadang troupe originated in Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces in central Korea. It consists of a road parade and individual skill demonstrations. • Mask Dance Play (Deotboegi): Thirteen actors appear in four scenes – the ground purifier, the episode of scabies sufferer, the episode of feeble-minded scholar, and the episode of black monk. • Tightrope Walking (Eoreum): An acrobat performs a variety of feats on a tight rope between humorous exchanges with a clown on the ground. The rope is some 9-10 meters long and 2.5 meters high. Kwon Won-tae of the present Namsadang group can perform 17 kinds of feats. • Puppet Play (Deolmi): A total of 51 puppets in 31 kinds appear in this play with two acts and seven scenes. The stage is set up with black curtains, some 1.2 meters above ground. Puppeteers manipulate the puppets from behind the curtain, exchanging dialogue with a narrator seated in front of the stage along with musicians. The play consists of the Act of Old Man Park and the Act of Pyongyang Governor. The Act of Old Man Park has four scenes -- Old Man Park Goes on Sightseeing; Pijori (Park’s niece); Kkokdu Gaksi (Park’s wife); Isimi (python). The Act of Pyongyang Governor has three scenes -- Falconing, Pallbearing and Temple Building. • Acrobatics (Salpan): This act has a variety of breathtaking feats performed on the ground. • Sieve Frame Spinning (Beona): An acrobat displays intricate skills for spinning and tossing a sieve frame using a wooden stick some 40cm long. Sometimes he uses a tobacco pipe, a knife or a small reel, or an impromptu device combining these tools. Among the six acts of Namsadang Nori, the mask dance and puppet plays are particularly worthy of note for their explicit social messages. Characters in these humorous plays represent typical Koreans from different social classes, such as an aristocratic master and a defiant servant, an old couple and a concubine, Buddhist monks indulging in worldly pleasures, and the masses suffering from unending suppression and exploitation. These dramas were not simply designed to offer entertainment but also raise issues on behalf of the grassroots who had no means to voice their opinion. They were intended to imbue hopes for freedom and equality in the hearts of their commoner audience under yokes of class distinction. Through humorous depiction of women’s lives in a male-dominated society they also manifested the ideal of gender equality and human dignity. The masks and puppets symbolically express the reality faced by each character. The pains and sorrows in their hearts are soothed and even fears of death are overcome with cheerful plays. Namsadang plays thus advocated the ideas of freedom and equality through witty and humorous dialogue and symbolic dances and gestures. They spoke for the desires of Korean grassroots to pursue a beautiful and dignified life even though they had to accept the limitations of reality. These themes will be easily understood and earn sympathy from audiences around the world. The plays feature many silent characters, as well as abundant gestures and dances, facilitating easier communication and active audience participation beyond language barriers. The Namsadang troupes typically were performed in round outdoor spaces surrounded by crowds except the entrance and exit paths. The performing arenas, therefore, were open to everyone. The wandering entertainers held rites to pray for peace and fertility, playing loud and pleasant music, in every village they dropped in. They entertained the villagers with exciting programs of music, drama, dances and acrobatics, offering joyful moments to the oppressed commoners and boosting their morale. Namsadang Nori possesses intrinsic value as a content source for contemporary cultural creation. With a history spanning 1,500 years at the least, this integrated folk repertoire represents traditional Korean performing arts in broad genres. Its content will be actively utilized in various cultural genres in the years ahead. In this context, the recent hit movie “The King and the Clown” (2005) deftly proved such potential. The movie featured tightrope walking, farmers’ band, mask dance drama and puppet play in a number of scenes. Its two lead characters are wandering entertainers who happen to drift into the royal court. The movie’s phenomenal success has inspired many artists to employ motifs from the Namsadang repertory.

South Korea 2009

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea It is presumed that this mask play stemmed from the puppet play performed by itinerant troupes called Namsadang in Anseong. The face-shaped mask is put on a foot stretched out by a person inside a covered space sized 2m by 1m and the puppet’s arms are moved with a string (now with bamboo sticks) attached to them. The person inside the space sings, dances, and cracks gags. Another clown outside the covered space moves in harmony with the movements made by the masked foot to the accompaniment of music played on piri (flute), jeotdae (bamboo flute), haegeum (two-stringed fiddle), buk (drum), and janggo (hourglass-shaped drum). Baltal is a puppet show mixed with a mask play. The gags cracked by the clown included acrimonious satires about what was happening in society and expressed the delights and sorrows experienced by commoners who were forced to live hard lives.