Puppet Theatre: Bunraku-style

This course will begin with a detailed look at the traditional Japanese Bunraku puppet theatre, a form that involves texts by some of the most revered Japanese writers and detailed puppets operated by three puppeteers, each in full view of the audience. We will continue to explore Japanese splinter forms (Otome Bunraku, Kuruma Ningyo), as well as contemporary, American adaptations of the style. Students will then have the opportunity to develop their own manipulation skills with three-person puppets and construct and devise their own bunraku-style performance. This class meets once a week for two hours.