At the invitation of the International Puppet Fringe Festival, Taiwan's performance troupe Puppet Beings Theatre (偶偶偶劇團) will make its U.S. debut with "The Paper Play (紙要和你在一起)" at The Clemente in New York from Aug. 9 to 12 and give an additional performance at the Flushing Town Hall on Aug. 13. The troupe looks forward to boosting their creativity through interaction with performing arts workers from various countries during the premiere in the U.S.
"The Paper Play," which features paper puppets and props in its show, has toured in the UK and many other countries. As part of the show, members of the Puppet Beings Theatre create lifelike puppets out of paper and take audiences on a captivating journey. Its outstanding performance at the Taiwan Season Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2015 received widespread acclaim, including a 4-star rating from the British newspaper "The Stage," giving praises to the troupe for their innovative performance which “grabbed the attention of audiences of all ages and kept them mesmerized the entire show.”
Puppet Beings Theatre was established in 2000 by Sun Cheng-chieh (孫成傑) with the aim of developing new and intricate performance methods in the art of puppetry. Sun said that it took them six years of research before succeeding in harnessing the properties of paper in a puppet play. It is also an extremely meaningful trip as this is the troupe's first performance in the U.S. and especially after performing arts organizations around the world were struck hard by the pandemic, Sun added.
Director of the Taipei Cultural Center in New York Chang Hui-chun (張惠君) said that New York's International Puppet Fringe Festival is the world’s first international arts festival dedicated to puppetry. The Taiwanese team will be participating in the festival for the first time, performing alongside troupes from Brazil, Canada and more.
(Photo credit: Puppet Beings Theatre )