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Myanma Marionette Theatre

Photo Credit - www.tripadvisor.com

No pagoda festival in Myanmar is complete without a marionette show. Festivals come after paddy is harvested and when farmers can look forward to a shortspell of leisure. What is more. they have hard cash to spend.

The stubble plains where people had. some time before. worked hard at harvesting are now a scene of revelry. Caravans of bullock carts loaded with pilgrims. and some of them carrying wares to sell. camp under the huge tamarind trees.
On the river side. barges are moored and people gather round to see what products they have to sell. The most interesting of them all is the barge carrying the marionette troupe.
Soon the festival ground is filled with people. You walk along the line of stalls where you can buy products from far and near-glazed earthen-ware. handwoven cottons. bamboo and cane baskets. mats. woodwork. boxes made of toddy palm leaves which come in all sizes. from the smallest toy things to huge packing cases. their outsides are woven in attractive designs.
The festival has all the trimmings of a trade fair; ferris wheels. merry-go-rounds. and of course. marionette shows. The stage for the show is built of bamboo. Tradition decrees that it is not built with its back to the village. It slopes slightly towards the audience who sit on the ground; they bring their own mats. It is an open air show.
Marionette stage
The stage is bare except for a green branch stuck in the middle against the white backdrop about two and half feet high and a kadaw-pwe. which is an arrangement of two bunches of bananas and green coconut on a tray decorated with flowers wrapped in green banana leaves.
Kadaw-pwe literally means an offering of respect it is an important item in any Myanmar celebration both in family circles and in public.
Ritual dance
The show opens witht the ritual dance performed by a female marionette to pay respects to the guardian spirits of the area. It is a formality to 'pay respects to those to whom respect is due'; through this dance the troupe requests the powers that be to waive away all the dangers that may be lurking on the festival grounds. The ritual dance is exciting and boisterous; the marionette in red and pink costume dances to the booming of the orchestra. The opening bars of the song call for a crescendo and connoisseurs judge the vocal virtuosity of the troupe by the way the ritual song is sung.
The orchestra men also show their artistry and prowess that match the song and dance of the votaress the manipulator of which has to take the challenge and give an exhibition of his dexterity. In this way the ritual dances serve as a 'trailer' for the audience.
Primeval forest scene
After the ritual dance comes the dance of the animals and mythical beings in the primeval forest. It is also supposed to be the beginning of the world. The orchestra prelude the scene with boisterous music which symbolizes chaos before the earth came into being.
The first to appear is the horse; according to the Buddhist concept of the universe. the first planet to appear on the firmameant is Asavani. the galaxy of stars shaped like a horse's head. The coming of the horse therefore tells the audience that the earth and the sky have come into being out of the chaos.

After the horse comes the elephant. stepping with grace and dignity. Soon the stage is full of animals. tigers on the prowl. birds in the air. and the monkey up to his antics.
Mythical beings like the dragon. ogre and zawgyi (demigod or magician) also come in the dance. They lend an air of fantasy. glamour and the mysterious beauty of the wilds.
The play; scenery and props
Scenic background. until recently was not used because marionettes show better against the white background. The props used are not many; tree branch to convey the idea of a forest. the throne for the king's audience hall and the couch for the boudoir.
The play invariably opens with the king holding court. Sometimes this scene is hardly part of the story. The court scene however tells the audience that after the primeval forest scene. human society with law and order has come into being The king and the ministers. in the course of their conversation. reveal where the action of the play is to take place and who are to be the main characters. In this way the scene 'lays the foundation of the plot' as the saying goes
One thing about the Myanma marionette show is that its strength lies in the lyrical beauty and the spic grandeur of the dialogue which is rendered in song. arias. recitatives and commentaries in rhymed prose supported by the orchestra.
Usually it takes two to present a marionette on the stage. one to recite or sing and the other to manipulate the strings in co-ordination. Sometimes an artiste might be able to do both but such ones are rare.
Importance of the court scene
There is a saying that no play is complete without the royal court scene with the king and ministers. but it is a fact that the scene is boring to the audience.

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