Life Sized Puppets
Khiva, Uzbekistan 2012
Torie and I waited for hours for the puppet show to begin. The “curtain” was delayed because the honored guest, the president’s daughter, had not arrived. I don’t think she ever did arrive, but finally the show went on.
Many puppets were life-sized as you see here. In a way the puppeteers were like actors, only they didn’t wear their costume. The costume was the puppet and the actor/puppeteer held it in front of his body, using his hands to make gestures. At times, there were two puppeteers behind a costume. There was no effort made to hide the fact that people were manipulating the puppets. It was up to the audience to use their imagination to block out the person manipulating the puppet. From the shrieks of delight coming from the children watching, this was easy for them to do.
Old Bokhara Puppet Show
I love this photo! These old photos made me wish I had traveled a hundred years ago, before the homogenization of culture that is taking place today.
The old-time puppeteer carried the stage on his body and was accompanied by a drummer and a boy who probably narrated the story. A similar stage contraption was used by bread bakers. The baker or bread-seller, wore his shop over his head. A blanket formed a flat-topped umbrella-like shelf for loaves of bread. Of course, his face was not covered and he sat in the market place.
www.uzbekjourneys.com can arrange your tour of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan complete with puppet shows