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Interview with Mary EcksteinInterviewer's note: Brenda Xu served as interpreter and answered questions on behalf of her parents. NEA: I was wondering if they could talk a little bit about what it meant for them when they heard the news. XU: They were very surprised and excited. It's such a great gift for them. NEA: When did they begin to learn rod puppetry? XU: My father started early. He has loved puppets since childhood. When he was a little boy he had toy puppets and put on shows for the neighborhood children. After graduating from middle school he began puppetry school. Then he went to a small town in the country to learn puppetry from the old puppeteers. My mom was different. She was studying to be an opera singer when she was young but when she was 18 was transferred from the opera school to the puppetry company. At the beginning she was not very interested in puppets, but after some time with the puppet company she started to like the puppets. NEA: What was the hardest thing for them to master in the early days? XU: The most basic skill is holding up the puppets, so at the beginning they practiced that for long periods of time. Sometimes they’d spend the whole just holding up the puppets. It's really hard work. NEA: Your father actually makes the puppets, right? XU: Yes. He's not only making the puppets but also directs, builds the sets and makes all the music. NEA: What have been the challenges or difficulties they’ve experienced over the years trying to sustain a career as puppeteers? XU: Fewer and fewer people in China are interested in the traditional art forms and in puppetry in particular. More young people are interested in modern art, in popular art, going to concerts. And some people think the puppet shows are just for kids. It’s difficult to have the budget to keep this artform going. They say the greatest difficulty for them now is speaking English. It is hard to communicate with all the people here. Additionally, they are almost 60 years old and they want to do more and more but it’s difficult physically. NEA: I was just wondering given the challenges to continuing the puppetry and having young people take up puppetry, what efforts are your parents making to pass along the tradition to a future generation? XU: We do workshops in schools. We teach the students to make a simple puppet. My parents also work together with the local puppet company teaching them to work with traditional Chinese rod puppets. NEA: What makes a good puppeteer? I understand your mother really tries to convey a sense of grace through the puppets. What does she try to do with the puppets to make them so lifelike? XU: It’s very hard to make a puppet come alive. It comes alive through movement and since my mom trained as a Beijing Opera singer she knows how to perform as a real actor. She’s learned to transfer her skills to the puppets, so that the puppets move as people. When they perform, they become the characters. NEA: I would imagine that that would be very draining. XU: Yes. We have a stage with a front curtain just about a person height and the puppets all need to held up. So you can imagine holding them for 45 minutes, it's very tiring. But when they do they are doing the show and are really in character, they just forget the physical tiredness. After the show, oh they feel it! NEA: Could they speak a little bit about why they have continued to perform puppetry through the years? Why it has been such an important part of their life? XU: They say the traditional art doesn’t belong to only one country. It is the treasure of the whole world. They want not only Chinese people know this traditional art but people all around the world, to let more people know about the Chinese culture, the history and the puppet art. NEA: What advice do they have for young artists who want to go into the puppetry field? XU: My father says to study Asian or Chinese history. And my mom said to have to study hard and work hard. And to have patience.
National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency |
