Shadow Puppet Theatre

1. Shadow Puppet Theatre

2. Shadow puppet theater seems to have come to Greece and Cyprus probably from Asia, during the Ottoman rule. Although it is four centuries old, shadow puppet theater is still very likeable and still performed, often during traditional celebrations. It is performed using two dimensional, wood or paper puppets. The torso, waist, feet and sometimes the limbs of the puppets, are separate pieces that are joined together with pins. They are moved with a stick that is attached to their back. The scene is occupied by the palace to the right and Karagiozis’ cottage to the left.

3. The puppeteer moves the puppets against a white cloth, called mperntes. The audience is watching from the other side of the cloth and can only see the shadows created by the puppets. The puppeteer creates the voices for the dialogue, narrates the story, and possibly even sings while manipulating puppets. The story is based on the adventures of Karagiozis, who is the main character in the Greek Puppet Theatre. Karagiozis is a poor hunchbacked Greek, his right hand is always depicted long, his clothes are ragged and patched, and his feet are always bare.

4. MAIN SHADOW THEATER CHARACTERS Karagiozis: a trickster poor Greek man Aglaia: Karagiozis’ wife Kollitiria: Karagiozis’ and Aglaia’s sons Hadjiavatis: Karagiozis’ friend, honest and serious, however always ends up in trouble caused by Karagiozis Vizier: a rich Turk man that lives in the palace Fatme: Vizier’s daughter Morfonios: a very short and ugly man

5. CREATING OUR OWN SHADOW THEATER The 1st graders studied the Greek Shadow Puppet Theatre, created their own puppets and improvised simple dialogues, that they later performed to their classmates, on an offhand mperntes, made of paper and cardboard, that was placed in the classroom.