Synopsis:

In this two-day masterclass, The Finger Players will be collaborating with Milanese puppet master Valerio Saccà from the Italian puppet theatre company La Casa di Meneghino to present a double-bill hand puppetry workshop.

Led by Tan Beng Tian, Co-Founder of The Finger Players and an award-winning theatre practitioner, she will introduce and demonstrate the fundamentals of traditional Chinese hand puppetry, as well as sharing her research on the preservation and conservation of the traditional art form. In parallel, Valerio Saccà, Founder of La Casa di Meneghino, along with his apprentice Benedetta Pigoni, will also share his practice and expertise in traditional Italian hand puppetry.

During the masterclass, participants will explore the culturally distinct yet similar approaches to hand puppetry, including character archetypes, manipulation techniques, staging systems, and storytelling styles between Italian and Chinese hand puppetry. At the end of the masterclass, the participants will be given the opportunity to devise, and present theirs stories using these two traditional puppetry forms.

You should attend this Masterclass if you wish:

- To nourish your mind and broaden your horizon
- To be introduced to traditional hand puppetry from the perspectives of Chinese and Italian culture
- To learn fundamental techniques and elements of traditional hand puppetry such as character-specific manipulation, traditional staging systems, and storytelling styles
- To create stories by combining techniques from both Chinese and Italian puppetry

REQUIREMENTS

- The minimum age for this masterclass is 18 years old.
- Full attendance is compulsory.
- Please attend the Masterclass in comfortable clothing.