Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Comments on the Finalist

This work is adapted from the novel of the same name by German author Michael Cornelius, and in it director Baboo’s stage imagery comes together with a new work of puppet theater by the Puppet & Its Double Theater. Add in a one-man performance by Derrick Wei and his hysterical acting style, and you get Der Schönste Moment as a fast-paced, rough ‘n ready, avant-garde piece of puppet theater – it makes one think of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi – that in form adheres closely to the character of the novel’s pen-wielding author and his sarcastic take on capitalism. The live performance is entertaining, but it is also intentionally and quite obviously whacky. The Puppet & Its Double Theater also uses all sorts of exaggerated puppets and ingenious designs for the theater and props. As such, this piece indicates a direction worthy of consideration for puppet theater in Taiwan.  ( Committee member/ Geng I-Wei )

Artwork Introduction

The Puppet & Its Double Theater performed Der Schönste Moment starring Derrick Wei that premiered at the Experimental Theater, National Theater and Concert Hall on October 15, 2009.

Der Schönste Moment is adapted from Michael Cornelius’ novel that tells the story of a ghostwriter. Derrick Wei portrays the ghostwriter and various other characters, while the puppets are used to exemplify transformation by changing from lifeless objects into living subjects. Directed by Baboo, the play also experiments with shifts of narrative perspectives and multiple levels of narration. Confession is a theme, as well as a technique, as the confession becomes a monologue in theater breaking the illusion of a single subject.

One of the goals of the Puppet & Its Double Theater is to create puppetry for adults. Due to the mature content of the novel with its themes of sex and violence that were not explored in previous works, makes this rather a risqué play, which features an aesthetic of violence and an erotic imagination of objects and puppets in theater.

The minimal stage design uses a toilet as the main setting, as the lead character often contemplates life in the bathroom. Since the puppets are modeled after the actor’s face, they all resemble Derrick Wei which creates an ironic contrast. With the volatile play of intentions of the actor, this performance presents a powerful tension on stage that cannot be replaced by other artistic forms. For example, the interviewees mimicked by the ghostwriter through narration are recreated as puppet characters of diverse materials and shapes with distinctive characteristics.

Der Schönste Moment is a unique and profound play at the levels of narrative structure, form, and performance that brings puppetry into the realm of modern theater; it challenges traditional puppet plays, while paving the way for a new theater of puppetry.

About the Artist

The Puppet & Its Double Theater was founded in September 1999, in Taipei, Taiwan. The company promotes the puppet as an art form in all its varieties such as hand, string, rod, table-top, and shadow puppets; they also combine puppets with actors for staged productions.

The Puppet & Its Double Theater and regularly perform in international festivals and won the annual Taishin Art Award for Top 10 performances of 2002 for I Am Another Yourself. They provide innovative training and education in puppetry and puppet building and conduct collaborative workshops with world famous puppet groups to help promote the artistic development of puppetry in Taiwan.