“Puppets always have to try to be alive,” says Adrian Kohler of the Handspring Puppet Company, a gloriously ambitious troupe of human and wooden actors. Beginning with the tale of a hyena’s subtle paw, puppeteers Kohler and Basil Jones build to the story of their latest astonishment: the wonderfully life-like Joey, the War Horse, who trots (and gallops) convincingly onto the TED stage.

Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, of Handspring Puppet Company, bring the emotional complexity of animals to the stage with their life-size puppets. Their latest triumph: “War Horse.”

This is stunning.  The performers are from the China Disabled People’s Performing Art Troupe.

I am a great fan of this actor. You may well recognise her.

Writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith gives life to author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper and a bull rider, excerpts from her solo show “On the Road: A Search for American Character.”

Anna Deavere Smith’s ground-breaking solo shows blur the lines between theatre and journalism, using text from real-life encounters to create gripping portraits.

I first came across Tadashi Suzuki’s work 10 years ago when working with Lynne Bradley and Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre, from Brisbane. They as a company use Suzuki’s method as part of a very rigorous and physical actor training. Here is a link to SCOT, Suzuki’s own company, based in Toga, Japan. Also there are some video clips of performers in training, just so you can see how demanding it is.

http://www.scot-suzukicompany.com/en/

I first heard of Korean Pansori earlier this year when two of my BTEC Performing Arts students, Arisa and Meghna, made a presentation on a non-western theatre form. Often called Korean Opera, Pansori has lots of tradition behind it and is still popular today. Below are some links to PDF files that give the background

History of Pansori

The Origins of Pansori

http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/bunraku/en/

http://www.surrealistgruppen.org/bergmark/butoh.html

The never-ending possibilities of theatre and technology

Can a filmed stage show be as good as the real thing?

The UK National Theatre has screened its production of Frankenstein twice for a mass audience. Was it a lesser experience? Two theatre critics argue it out