“Sometimes when I’m writing, I wonder if the words have a mind of their own, and if they’re really just using me as a puppet to manifest themselves.”
– Travis J. Dahnke
After hearing about ‘yoke thé’- traditional Burmese marionette puppetry in Mandalay we were excited to catch a show in Yangon. Using wooden puppets dressed as people in traditional clothes or animals, this was once a leading art form in Burma. While originally developed to entertain the royalty, it was also used as a medium to tell stories and educate people in religion, history, literature and culture.
What we didn’t know was it is a dying industry for the Burmese people. While puppetry was once widely performed at Buddhist festivals all over Burma, television and more modern forms of entertainment have stepped in as a more dominant form entertainment. After Burma’s 1988 uprising against the military regime, public celebrations become less and less frequent.
Today, with the new government in power they have refused to endorse much less acknowledge puppetry as a cultural and touristic attraction. With no backing from the government therefore no way to market their shows, there has been a decline in persons wanting to learn and preserve this skill for the future. Allegedly, the reason the government feels so strongly against puppetry is because they themselves are perceived as a puppet government. They want no association to the word and therefore have cut all ties with it.
We were fortunate enough to find a small company that still puts on puppet shows – via his family home living room. After contacting him through email to request a show he accepted and we arrived to his family home where he had a stage permanently set up. Eight chairs facing a tiny stage. There were six of us at the show on a random Tuesday evening where we learned lots about the history and newfound decline of his livelihood.
They owner was very sweet and passionate about puppetry and mentioned that the only people who still participate in the act are people somewhat associated to it. He had a team of 4 pupetiers. One was his daughter, his wife, the wife of a puppet maker and the son of a puppeteer.
It was such a wonderful experience as it was a very intimate but still passionate show. The engineering of the puppets was much more impressive than I had imagined – made of traditional fine wood, with intricate costume attire.
We were informed the shows used to last 6-8 hours with live music and a team of puppeteers playing all over Myanmar at the pagodas. To this day there are only two pagoda festivals where puppetry is performed. The other lot of existing puppeteers play at restaurants that offer dinner and a show. The owner specified his disdain with that set up, that they belong in a theater with your full attention not performing as you chew your food and chit chat. I totally agree.
It’s a shame to see such a strong cultural tradition for the people of Myanmar diminishing at the scene. While his efforts are appreciated and valiant, I’m not sure how much longer it will be able to stick around.
I’m grateful to have such an amazing partner who dug to find an authentic puppet show. It was such an enlightening and beautiful performance. After the show they even let us have a go at it. Let me tell you, it is no easy skill maneuvering all those joints via multiple strings. They were very heavy to my surprise as well.
I super recommend supporting and spreading the word for this intimate business so everyone can enjoy the art of Burmese puppetry while they still can.
Recommendation
HTWE OO Myanmar. Puppetry home. Yangon. www.htweoomyanmar.com
