“An astounding display of craftsmanship, storytelling and artistry from a troupe who’ve travelled across the globe to share their brilliance in entertaining Canadian audiences for the first time.”

Who knew the City of Mississauga plays host to an annual puppet festival? The festival showcases the most captivating international puppet performances (many of them award-winning) from innovative theatre companies that are redefining this awe-inspiring art form worldwide.

Every March break, Crane Creations, a local professional theatre company, facilitates and curates high-quality live national and international events. Among them is the Puppet Festival Mississauga, an international festival celebrating the art of storytelling through puppets. It’s a wonderful world where fantasy and imagination take centre stage. It's absolutely perfect for the entire family during the March break. This year’s six-day festival was performed at multiple venues, with 28 performances by 39 artists.

I had the pleasure of entering the world of the Joe Louis (yes, eponymously named after the great boxer) Thai Puppet Theatre with their traditional puppet show, “Ramayana.” This remarkable company from Bangkok has preserved a two-thousand-year-old art form, teaching and entertaining through a story related to Thai culture. This multi-award-winning company is the only puppet troupe in Thailand claiming to be direct descendants of the man who founded the company over a century ago. The art form was all but lost in the twentieth century, but a resurgence was found in the mid-1990s.

The large, intricately detailed puppets require three people to operate each. The results are perfectly synchronized, dreamlike movements from the puppets and operators alike. Puppeteers are dressed in black, some with faces covered, to further increase suspension of disbelief. Initially, I thought that might be a distraction, but I was happily proven wrong when I realized I forgot they were even there.

A brief video explains the significance of puppets and animation spanning many cultures over two millennia. Next is a short history of the importance of puppet shows in Thai culture specifically and how the Joe Louis company is carrying the mantle of their ancestors forward into the 21st century.

Performers enter the stage, stretch and move in unison as a kind of dance-like warm-up for what’s to come. Then, the tale of “Hanuman: The Great Warrior” begins. Although given no program of context or synopsis, it quickly becomes apparent we are watching a mythological tale of a deified warrior-king on an underwater quest to seek out a mystical and beautiful mermaid princess to be his consort. Along the way, he meets denizens of the deep, both friends and foes. Dazzling fish, coral reefs, and shimmering sea snakes wiggle and wag across the stage.

When the king finally meets the mermaid, she plays coy and hilariously evades his affections by “swimming” into the audience, Hanuman in hot pursuit. This is where I felt the show got bogged down. A good 15 minutes was spent with the puppets and their masters playing and interacting with audience members. This seemed to delight some audience members as they slipped the entertainer's 20 and 50-dollar notes in appreciation. Alas, for me, the narrative was suspended for these extended hijinks, and while fun, I found it ultimately distracting. I needed to re-invest my attention when the puppeteers returned to the stage to bring their magical tale to its conclusion.

Beyond skilled manipulation is the wonderful craftsmanship of the mostly stick-style puppets. Though the King wears a fearsome mask and intricately embroidered armour, he’s a clown, playing for laughs, while his mermaid paramour is resplendent in finely detailed traditional headdress, porcelain face and hands, shiny blue scales and billowing white tail. Adding to the visual feast are fish with glowing eyes and fluttering gills. An evil life-sized water witch is literally strapped to its operator, allowing fully articulating arms, legs and head.

Lighting and music complete this dream. A myriad of colours evoke the underwater fantasy, while haze and soap bubbles pumped in from the wings make us feel truly submerged. Traditional Thai music underpins the ethereal and transcendent visuals.

This is still a niche art to which few are willing to dedicate their lives. This remarkable cast makes it look easy, providing a treat that you’re not likely to see anywhere else outside Thailand.

The wonder of this presentation is that it communicates its cultural significance without language. What a wonderful lesson that in our modern, divisive world of war and distrust, a troupe of puppeteers can bring cultures together to share, educate and rejoice in our collective differences without uttering a single word. We need more of this – badly!

If Hanuman is indeed The Great Warrior, then the Joe Louis Thai Puppet Theatre Company is undoubtedly the Great Entertainer!

Running time: Approximately 45 minutes.

“Ramayana Thai Puppet Show”
Presented by seven members of the Joe Louis Thai Puppet Theatre Company, Bangkok
This production was part of the Mississauga Puppet Festival, held every March at the Maja Prentice Theatre, 3650 Dixie Road, Mississauga, ON

To learn more about Crane Creations Theatre, visit cranecreations.ca