Going to Town , Puppet Show

The Monkey King's Three Attacks on the White Skeleton Demon , Production byShanghai Puppet Theatre

As an important part of China Today Arts Week in Sweden, the program Collection of Chinese Stories presented by Shanghai Puppet Theatre was toured on eight occasions in five cities and towns in South Sweden. In the first tour city, Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden, the performance was arranged at Palladium, a theatre full of classical atmosphere. The famous act The Monkey King’s Three Attacks on White Skeleton Demon aroused great exclamation with its technique. Thanks to the story-telling guide of Olle Steimer, the Swedish host, children and their parents gained a better understanding of this story which is well-known at every Chinese household.

Such passion was invariably stirred in other four cities in South Sweden. After the show was over, with strong curiosity with this exotic but time-honored performing arts, many Swedish children, in the accompaniment of their parents, would go to the backstage to have a look at how the performers made puppet alive and with their fingers and hands，touch the puppet character that acted lively on stage.

In Malmo, we also met with the local counterpart of puppet theatre. When this elderly talked in excitement with us and showed us his puppet and performance pictures, we were surprised to find that he had participated in Shanghai Puppet Festival and won grand prize. He said that he would definitely participate in the next festival in Shanghai next year and he hoped that puppet artists from both countries would strengthen exchange and demonstrate the profound friendship between China and Sweden.