The puppet theatre show titled 'The Monkey King Adventures: Love Of Onibaba' at the upcoming George Town Festival in Penang features a collaboration between the homegrown Ombak Potehi group and Japan’s acclaimed Team ITO. Photo: Handout
If you are familiar with the literary classic Journey To The West, you know the protagonists return home and live happily ever after at the end.
But what if their adventure took a different turn? If cinematic sequels and multiverses are any indicator, alternate timelines can open up a host of intriguing possibilities.
That is exactly what a puppet theatre show titled The Monkey King Adventures: Love Of Onibaba promises at this month’s George Town Festival (GTF) in Penang.
The show will play at the Majestic Theatre in George Town on July 29 and 30.
A collaboration between the homegrown Ombak Potehi group and Japan’s acclaimed Team ITO, it is a localised sequel to the timeless tale centred around a Buddhist monk and his intrepid gang.
As in the original, Tang Sam Tsong travels to India to look for sacred scriptures alongside Sun Ngoo-khong (Monkey King), Tu Pat Kai (Pigsy) and Sua Tseng (Friar Sandy).
But that is where things diverge. In this version, they are tricked by Onibaba (a female supernatural monster in Japanese folklore) to disembark on Penang Island during their return journey.
Onibaba, manipulated by strings from a board, highlights a method used by Team ITO to revive traditional Japanese marionette puppet theatre. Photo: Togari Yasuko
Disguised as a beautiful lady, Onibaba dances and sings about how she has fallen in love with Tang in her dreams, later ordering her yokai (supernatural entities) to kidnap him.
The Monkey King and his friends frantically look for Tang and have to fight the yokai in a series of spectacular battles. So who wins? Will Onibaba’s love for Tang be returned?
You will just have to catch the shows to find out! With flying potehi glove puppets and even characters that split in two, it promises to be a captivating experience.
Glove puppets and marionettes
Ombak Potehi founder Prof Dr Tan Sooi Beng said the group had always tried to innovate and localise their potehi shows to appeal to a more varied and multi-ethnic audience.
This included stagings of The Penang Story 1-2 series as well as Puteri Hang Li Po at the GTF and Butterworth Fringe Festival in previous years.
While the main character types, puppet manipulation techniques and musical roles are maintained, they switched dialogues to local Penang Malay and Hokkien (in addition to classical Hokkien).
The beloved puppet characters Tang (left) and the Monkey King from Ombak Potehi ready to embark on their journey at the George Town Festival 2023. Photo: Marcus Lim
The characters also wore local costumes and sang local folk songs. This made it more approachable to modern audiences, especially younger ones experiencing potehi for the first time.
“Journey To The West is known both in Malaysia and Japan. We added Japanese characters and set the story in Penang so audiences here can better relate to the play. There will be some continuity with The Penang Story as its characters are the ones who meet Tong Sam Tsong and the Monkey King when they arrive on the island,” said Tan.
She added their main aim is to show the beauty of the art of puppetry and revitalise the art forms since their respective traditions in Malaysia and Japan are gradually disappearing.
Playing at a festival like the GTF not only gives the puppetry medium a new audience, but it also shines a light on the old world skills required in making and manipulating the puppets.
Having the Malaysian and Japanese puppetry groups perform together also highlights the different methods and storytelling approach.
'The Monkey King Adventures: Love Of Onibaba' will play at the Majestic Theatre in George Town on July 29 and 30. Photo: The Star/Filepic
Team ITO uses string puppets in full view of the audience, while traditional potehi performers manipulate hand-held glove puppets from behind a stage.
“Potehi remains important at temple festivals in Penang. But the four remaining troupes have neither new apprentices to pick up the torch, nor audiences during shows,” said Tan.
She added the art form originated in Quanzhou, China, and was brought to Malaya by immigrants during the early 20th century. Over time, Penang grew into an important base for potehi.
In the post-WW II era, there were about 10 troupes on the island. Besides temple festivals honouring deities, the shows were also common during the Hungry Ghost month.
It was a popular form of entertainment and commanded large audiences whenever it played. But changing times and evolving preferences has seen interest dwindle altogether.
Puppeteer Marcus Lim manipulating a fight scene between the puppets. Photo: Chew Win Chen
Tan set up Ombak Potehi in Penang in 2015 to rejuvenate the art form and recruited a group of young people who then learnt the intricacies from masters of the Beng Geok Hong Puppet Troupe.
Today, Ombak Potehi is led by main puppeteer and scriptwriter Marcus Lim and frequently performs at festivals, slowly but steadily reigniting interest with its creative and localised stories.
Team ITO was established in 2014 by Kyoko Shiokawa, a puppet maker and puppeteer of Edo Ito Ayatsuri Ningyo, a traditional Japanese marionette puppet theatre.
This type of string puppet theatre is believed to have emerged as folk entertainment in 17th century Japan and regarded as an intangible folk-cultural property.
The Monkey King Adventures: Love Of Onibaba plays at the Majestic Theatre in George Town, Penang on July 29, and July 30. It is part of the George Town Festival 2023 arts programme. More info here.
