Mastering the puppets

But it is behind the scenes that you’ll find the real heroes, the puppets’ human manipulators, working hard to bring those sparkling marionettes to life.

Joe Louis himself – real name Sakorn Yangkhiawsod – is now well into his 80’s and rarely performs these days. Thankfully, however, the art of Hun Lakhon Lek – the style of puppetry he pioneered over 60 years ago – continues to live on through his children and grandchildren.

Learning post spoke to three young performers – Aek, Oat and New, all of them grandsons of ‘Master Sakorn’ – to find out more about the process of becoming a modern puppeteer.

“Because we were born into puppetry, we mastered the skills much quicker than normal,” says Aek, who at 21 is the eldest and most experienced of the three. “But if you want to be skillful, the most important thing is to have puppetry in your blood.”

In the Hun Lakhon Lek style of puppetry, each puppet is worked by three ‘masters’ – the leading master manipulates the head while the others follow through with the arms and legs. Strikingly, the puppeteers are visible throughout the performance, moving gracefully in tune with the puppet’s actions as well as mimicking its expressions. In a sense, the puppet and their masters become one.

“We have a motto,” says Aek. “In blending the art and soul, our hands pull the thread and our hearts breathe life into the puppet.”

Master puppeteers (left to right): Aek, New and Oat

All novice puppeteers working in the Joe Louis tradition must first master the Khon – a highly sophisticated stylised form of Thai dance. Since all three puppeteers must synchronise their actions with each other, the elegant and intricate movements of the Khon lend a seamless quality to the performances.

“When we were kids learning the Khon, our grandfather used canes to punish us if we made mistakes,” recalls Aek. “But that works because you definitely remember not to make those mistakes again!”

By the time a novice is physically mature enough, he or she is given their first puppet to control. With a multitude of distinct movements and expressions to perfect (see right) it can take up to a year of patient practice before a trainee is confident enough to perform on stage. Of course, not only does a puppeteer have to be able to manipulate the puppet, they must also learn to work in synchronicity with others.

“If one of us makes a mistake, the rest of us have to follow that mistake,” says 19-year-old Oat, who has been a master for four years now. “So we have to be able to read each other’s minds and be fully aware all the time.”

On top of all this, there are the scripts and songs to be learned by heart. The Joe Louis Theatre troupe currently performs two different Thai plays – the epic Ramayana and the folk tale Phra Aphai Mani. In order to allow for flexibility, each male performer must be familiar with the moves and expressions of every male character and females equally as conversant with all the female roles. That’s a lot to remember, so clearly a good memory is a pre-requisite for being a Joe Louis puppeteer.

But rehearsing and performing is only part of a puppeteer’s job at the Joe Louis theatre. “It’s a must for all puppeteers to be able to build and repair their puppets,” says Oat. “That way, they will know how to solve any problems with the puppet on stage immediately.”

It is also important because the art of puppetry is a craft as much as it is entertainment. Visitors to the theatre are given a chance to see puppets old and new at the end of each performance and are taken through the process of how the puppets are constructed. Some of the puppets cost up to 200,000 baht to produce and are assembled using a mixture of ancient techniques and modern materials. But things are changing fast, Oat tells us, because traditional materials such as gold leaf are increasingly hard to come by as well as being very expensive.

CONTROL FREAKS The Joe Louis style of puppetry – named Hun Lakhon Lek – has been around for over 60 years. Uniquely, each puppet is controlled by three puppeteers working in tandem with one another. Another unusual aspect of Hun Lakhon Lek is the way the puppeteers are visible on stage, not hidden from the audience’s view as is the norm. Joe Louis puppets are capable of showing a huge range of emotions and gestures thanks to the intricate design of the puppet’s control mechanisms along with the talents of the puppeteers. To add to the lifelike effect, all puppet masters mimic the expressions of the puppets they are operating. Below are illustrations of the most commonly used gestures: 'Tha rak' — loving 'tha yim' — happy 'Tha sia jai' — sad 'Tha ai' — shy

When the original theatre in Nonthaburi was ravaged by fire in 1999, for example, the troupe lost many of its puppets as well as other substantial assets. Thankfully, the public came to the rescue and donated funds so that the tradition could be kept alive.

“The present puppets not only belong to us but also to the Thai people who contributed money after the fire,” says New, 18, who is now into his third year of puppet mastery. “So I think that the Thai people should help to preserve the tradition.”

The real burden of this tradition, of course, lies firmly on the shoulders of Master Sakorn’s young relatives who are expected to go into the family business. This has meant some sacrifice, especially as regards education. Aek, for instance, was pulled out of school in his first term as an Matayom 4 student in order to help the family pick up the pieces following the fire. Oat and New only made it to the end of Matayom 3 before they were called to the stage.

“All of us are looking to continue our education,” says Aek. “But right now, because the puppet show is so popular, we just don’t have time.”

Nonetheless, all three young men are keen to keep the spirit of the Joe Louis theatre burning bright and pledge to pass on the art to their own children eventually.

“After our performances, many people from the audience come up to me and hold my hand saying ‘don’t leave this art behind’,” says Aek. “They ask me to promise them to carry on. And I do promise because I would like to continue, even though we have to fight the economic situation and other problems. I’m proud of my family and proud to be able to serve my country. When I’m on stage, I’m happy to see the audience smile and when I’ve finished and they appreciate me, that is the best feeling.”

Oat adds that the younger generation are adapting the show to suit changing tastes. “We have a character called Khun Joey who can rap,” he notes. “And we puppeteers can rap along with him as well! We’ll make sure that those puppets are never just kept in the cupboard.”

“I hope that teenagers nowadays don’t just think that puppets are outdated and old fashioned,” says New. “It’s the root of our culture and a great symbol of Thainess.”

Although most of today’s Joe Louis puppeteers are related in some way to the Master Sakorn himself, some outsiders with a committed interest have also been trained up to join the troupe. In fact the troupe is always on the lookout for new volunteers looking to join the puppeting world and there’s even talk of opening a puppetry school sometime next year.

So it seems that the future of the Joe Louis theatre is in safe, dedicated hands. As long as those puppeteers are able to hear the roar of the crowd and keep on pulling those strings, the show should go on for generations to come.