The evil empress

Yukiko tells the story of the orphan girl Yukiko, whose black cat disappears. The cat is the only friend she has. She goes into the world to search for it. On her way, she faces many trials, before she finds the cast at the top of a tall mountain, the Cat Paradise. The cat has to stay in the paradise, but Yukiko can return home in the knowledge that the cat is all right.

There are universal fairytale characteristics to the story, either it is told in Japan or in Norway. The theme is the battle between good and evil forces. Christiania Teater found inspiration to the production through journeys to Eastern Asia, and studies of Eastern Asiatic cultures.

In the puppetry version, puppets, stage design, music and lighting told the story of Yukiko. The target group was children aged 3 to 7 years.

Yukiko was performed a total of 93 times. The production was invited to The International Puppet Festival in Dordrecht (Holland) in May 1989, and to a Nordic theatre festival in Umeå (Sweden) in September 1989. In November 1990 (16.-30.) Yukiko was performed aboard the culture boat Innvik, as arranged by The Norwegian Touring Theatre. The production was also performed in the counties of Rogaland and Aust-Agder, and in Eastern Norway. 

The role of the empress was played by Anne Thomte. 

See the entries of the other puppets from the production in Sceneweb. These are Yukiko and the cat.

SOURCES:

Anna Greta Ståhle (1976): Klassisk japansk teater, Bunraku (literally: Classic Japanese theatre, Bunraku). Forum, Berlinska Boktryckeriet.

Mona Wiig's private archive.

Donated by: Mona Wiig

Transported 11.11.2019.

The head of The evil empress was formed from Styrofoam and fortified with cotton gauze and glue. Her face had a rounded forehead with slanted eyes, using beads for irises. Her nose was narrow and pointed, and her mouth had broad lips stretching around her whole chin.

Her hair was made from stiff, black ribbons, six centimetres broad. They were formed into two large hoops bulging from her head. Straps from rope was glued onto the ribbons, to give them a pattern looking like hair.

A solid black wooden handle was fastened to the back of the empress' head, so that the puppeteer could hold on to the puppet during the performance. To the head, a round rod was fastened, prolonged to the pelvis (approximately 40 centimetres). Around this rod, the body was shaped from plastic foam and a light, synthetic material adding volume.

The evil empress was clad in a luxurious black silk kimono, approximately 115 centimetres long. It was decorated with brocade in gold and emerald green at the top of the chest and near the hem. Long streams of decorative elements hung from the chest and down.

The sleeves of the kimono were made in two layers, with silk at the top and flower-patterned chiffon beneath.

The evil empress was constructed using a simplified Bunraku technique, with a solid handle fastened to the puppet's head, for the sake of performing with it. The upper body was stiff, and the pointed pieces of fabric that stood from her shoulders could make one think of strength as well as aggression. The long kimono, with mobility 'the thighs' and down, gave the impression of an abnormal body. The visual design of the empress signalised evil.

The long and wide kimono sleeves gave the most expressive movements to the puppet. At their longest, they were 70 centimetres long. The puppeteer could also hide her own arm when acting with the puppet's arm, switching between the right and left hand and arm, depending on which hand steered the head.

Bunraku is supposedly the most refined form of puppetry in the world. This form of puppetry is performed by a Jõruri singer, who gives voice to the Bunraku puppets, accompanied by a musician playing the Shamisen. The Shamisen is a string instrument, originally from China, made by cat skin. The music and recitation developed first, and puppets were added during the 1600es. It would take decades before dramatic theatre was developed from this. Until 1705, the puppets only were visible to the audience, but from 1705, the style changed, and the performers came onstage with the puppets. As did the Jõruri singer and the Shamisen player, both of whom were placed to the side of the stage. The word Bunraku stems from the puppeteer Bunraken, who lived towards the end of the 1700es. 

Traditionally, three puppeteers steer each classic Bunraku puppet. The most experienced holds the puppet with his left hand, moving the head, the eyes and the mouth, through a complicated system of springs and strong strings. With his right hand, he moves the puppet's right arm and hand. His closest collaborator stands to the left, steering the puppet's left arm. The third player, also a man, is the youngest. He goes bent behind the puppet, moving its feet and legs. Throughout history, Bunraku players have always been men.