Storytelling puppeteer
(ZHANG QIAN)
06/07/2002
For Juha Laukkanen, his entire theatre is held in a brown box decorated with a child's picture. But the simple props within allow him to create a fairy land filled with love and goodwill for children.A famous Finnish puppeteer, Juha has travelled around the world to present puppet plays for the past two decades. Last month, he held several puppet shows to the children at the Shanghai Changning International School and the Finnish children living in Suzhou. The show tells a 17-century French fairy tale "Beauty and Beast", a story of a prince who is magically transformed into a hideous beast by an old witch. To break the spell, he must learn to love and be loved. During the one-man show, at one time, he wore a wig and acted as a beast, at another time, he used a soft voice to imitate the beauty. "Nowadays I believe that children have more ideas of peace and love, if I can bring them something good they will create a better world when they grow up, instead of the current stupid world," he explained. Establishing the Puppet Theatre Sytkyt, Laukkanen has travelled around the world delighting audiences - both young and old for more than 15 years. In this two-man theatre, Juha Laukkanen acts as a storyteller, actor and puppeteer while his technical assistant Arto Ollikainen works behind the scenes. "I have the music for every show specially made," he said. After so many years, he has a large repertoire, all adapted from the folk stories and legends from around the world including those from Thailand, Nepal, Germany, Poland, Russia and Denmark. "I try to let children know that there are people from other parts of the world, they are not the only people, in the whole family of mankind, they have many other brothers and sisters." His audience ranges widely in age from 1-year-old children to those above 80. "For very young children, I usually use one puppet with one colour to tell the story, it can make them concentrate on the show easily." As a Nordic, he is especially good at adapting Wagner's operas into puppet shows. "The Rheingold", "The Walkure", "Siegfried", "Twilight of the Gods" and "The Flying Dutch Man" are all among his repertoire and are well received wherever performed. "I take the drama, simplify it, and then take the original music away and put the new music into it," he said. "These shows are warmly welcomed by both the old and young." In 1994 Juha Laukkanen became an Ambassador of Good Will for Unicef in which role he has travelled in Europe, Africa, and Asia. He has also received the Finnish State Prize of Children. He is the only puppet actor, at least in Finland, who makes special puppet operas for children. Actually this is the third time Juha has come to China. "I am impressed by the country, it is full of life and wonders." He said he would realize two of his wishes next time he comes to Shanghai, the first is to present a show created from the traditional Chinese legend "Monkey King", the other is to meet with the sick children at the hospitals and present finger puppeteer shows to them. In Shanghai, Laukkanen carried his puppet theatre around on a bike and was busy going from one place to another to give shows. "I hope through puppet shows, children can get a better image of the world and do much to make it better when they become adults," he said.
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