Taiwanese troupe Puppet & Its Double (無獨有偶工作室劇團) artistic director Cheng Chia-yin (郑嘉音) was invited to speak about her creative work at the National Puppetry Conference hosted online by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in the United States, along with other experts from the theatre industry.
Centered around the theme of "A Life Led By Puppets," Cheng discussed the beginning of her puppetry career, the influence world-renowned puppet masters had on her work, and The Puppet and Its Double's legacy in Taiwan.
Cheng noted that The Puppet and Its Double's creative prowess has attracted the attention of the international puppet scene. National Puppetry Conference is interested in a theater troupe that has integrated creative work, education, and international exchange, and The Puppet and Its Double has subsequently been invited to Canada’s Festival de Casteliers, and Puppets in the Green Mountains in the U.S., Cheng added.
Cheng also pointed out at the conference that as a puppet artist, she focuses mostly on transmitting the artistic spirit of the previous generation, while serving as a bridge to the next generation of new media technology.
"The National Puppetry Conference has always been an evolving and growing forum. As we begin our 31st season, we are looking forward to seeing new and innovative works of Puppetry take shape from homes across the globe," artistic director Pam Arciero said.
Founded in 1964 by George C. White and named in honor of Eugene O'Neill, four-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center has launched some of the most important voices and works in American theater and has revolutionized the way new work is developed. The National Puppetry Conference was formally launched in 1991 with the goal of furthering the development of new Puppetry work at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.