Internationally renowned Chinese puppet troupe performs at Melbourne’s Chinese Musuem during winter school holidays
Centuries-old Chinese puppetry tradition will be one of the highlights of the winter school holidays when the renowned Quanzhou Marionette Troupe, one of the cultural treasure of China's Fujian Province, bring their captivating and highly expressive show to shows at the Melbourne’s Chinese Museum from June 28.
First established in 1952, the Quanzhou Marionette Troupe is one of the best known professional artistic performing groups in China, and have performed in over 40 countries around the world.
Based on an artistic tradition which dates back two thousand years, Chinese puppet theatre has formed into a highly developed expression of Chinese culture, combining the skills of an artisan and performer into folk art. The puppeteer has a special place among Chinese performing artists.
Delighting audiences with their life-like puppets, master puppeteers manipulate single or groups of strings with their fingers. These expressive puppets portray men and women of all ages and professions as well as spirits and wild animals. The puppeteers, who often begin training as children, may take five years to learn basic techniques, and over 20 years to completely master more than 30 strings of the more complex puppets.
The Quanzhou Marionette Troupe will be performing daily at 11am, 1.30pm and 8pm from Saturday 28 June to Thursday 4 July. Tickets are $20 (adult) and $12 (child under 14 years) and can be purchased from the Chinese Museum. For an additional $12, visitors can enjoy a pre-show Chinese buffet lunch or dinner.
More information: www.chinesemuseum.com.au or call (03) 9662 2888
Media contact: Ursula Kay, Marketing Coordinator, Chinese Museum on (03) 9662 2888 or marketing@chinesemuseum.com.au