From March 28th to April 5th, the Shanghai Puppet Troupe held 17 "cloud performances" of puppet shows and creative puppet art on online platforms such as Douyin and Station B. The online popularity exceeded 250,000, and many large and small groups across the country. The audience watched the online show online. Shanghai-style shadow play "Mulan", "Nine-colored Deer", the puppet stage play "The Last Elephant", the puppet musical "The Voice of the Newsboy", the fairy tale puppet play "Monkey King Three Beats the Bone Spirit", etc. Families spent their time fighting the virus.

"The Last War Elephant" Cloud Exhibition Poster

It is reported that from April 6th to April 10th, the Shanghai Puppet Troupe will continue to launch a new round of "Cloud Show", all of which are the theater's original puppet shows, including "Little Wolf Lucas" and "Creation-Mending the Sky" ""Cinderella and the Crystal Slipper" and so on.
At the same time, the young actors of the Shanghai Puppet Troupe have written, directed and acted by themselves, created several short videos at home, and produced various puppets and puppet shows with various materials that are desirable at home. With a piece of white paper, a bunch of lights, a toy, and a handful of clay, a puppet show can be completed by hand and creativity, and children can also learn to imitate through videos and play with their own creativity.
On the new media platform, the Shanghai Puppet Troupe also launched an online collection of creative videos of "Boundless Art, Unlimited Fun". Children can use their creativity to use items at home as props and sets to make their own puppet dramas. At present, the topic on Douyin called "#海ochallenge" has been launched.

"Boundless Art, Unlimited Fun" Creative Video Online Collection Activity

Since the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee has coordinated and guided the online supply of cultural and literary content of "Arts Come Forward", the Shanghai Puppet Theater's cloud show has shown Shanghai-style intangible cultural heritage puppet art, as well as shadow puppetry and creative puppet art to more Shanghai and national audiences. According to reports, this is also an important part of the brand plan "Sea O Plan" launched by the Shanghai Puppet Troupe this year.
The so-called "sea O" is the homonym of "sea puppet", that is, the Shanghai style puppet show, a form of artistic performance that is listed as an intangible cultural heritage. Like the city that nurtured it, this art form has the character of openness. Hai O has various homonyms, in addition to "sea puppet", it is also "Hi!" and "Oh!", which are the voices made by the audience every time they encounter a sea puppet. The troupe's "Sea O" plan is based on "diversification, diversification, and multi-dimensionality", and an important means is to integrate online resources.
Previously, the Shanghai Puppet Troupe has made many attempts on online platforms. Since 2020, the monthly online live broadcast and the online "Puppet Theater" have accumulated a lot of online audiences and incubated many new ones. works, and gave puppeteers more new media skills.

Cloud show repertoire

During this "Cloud Show", many audience members shared and communicated with actors through the Internet, allowing Shanghai-style puppet art to break through the space limitations of the venue. To this end, the troupe's creative video collection will continue until April 23. "Story Master", "Sound Master", "Hands-on Master", "Drawing Master" and "Arrangement Master" can all use their respective To participate in this way, there are not only prizes, but also the opportunity to be shortlisted for the "2022 International Children's Language Arts Competition" and meet the hosts Jin Wei and Lulu.