Puppet theater attracts new generation of fans with popular characters

Puppet theater attracts new generation of fans with popular characters

2026-05-12

Traditional Taiwanese puppet theater usually features characters from history or martial arts stories. But for his troupe, Su Chun-ying蘇俊穎 from Tainan draws inspiration from popular cartoons, dramas, and movies to make one-of-a-kind puppets. He’s turned Navi from the Avatar film series, as well as the beloved Doraemon into glove puppets, making audiences roar with laughter.

A chubby blue puppet waddles around on stage. Look closely and you’ll see it’s actually Doraemon!

But that’s not all. There’s even a Navi from the Avatar films, all made into puppets to battle it out on the Budaixi stage. The troupe has attracted a lot of attention for its unusual approach.

Su Chun-ying is adept at playing many characters at once, making them all hilarious. He’s loved traditional Budaixi theater since he was a kid and kept a puppet collection. Driven by his obsession, he now runs a troupe all by himself, from the character design to the stage layout and even prop making. He also makes popular characters from cartoons, dramas, and movies into puppet form, becoming the signature of his troupe.

Su Chun-ying
Troupe leader
Snow White, Disney, Doraemon—these were our childhood. But for the older folks, their childhood was all stuff like Journey to the West. We’re just using the versatility of puppet theater to show the things that our generation watched.

In addition to performing traditional plays, Su is always innovating. And thanks to his dad’s influence, his son has even shown a flair for puppetry.

Su has gained renown for integrating pop culture with glove puppetry, successfully bringing this traditional art form to a new generation.

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#Budaixi #puppetry #puppettheater #Avatar #Doraemon #theater #popculture #performance #traditional #glovepuppet

布袋戲求創新戲偶搭上流行角色打入年輕族群

2026-05-12

布袋戲給人的印象，內容大多是歷史或武俠故事，但來自台南的蘇俊穎掌中木偶劇，將時下流行卡通、戲劇或電影，做出獨一無二的戲偶，包含知名電影"阿凡達"中的納美人，或是小朋友最愛的哆啦A夢，都能變成布袋戲中的角色，逗得觀眾哈哈大笑。

布袋戲台上，搖搖擺擺圓滾滾的藍色玩偶，仔細一看，居然是哆啦A夢。

吸睛的不只這個角色，甚至還有知名電影"阿凡達"中的納美人，都加入這場布袋戲大亂鬥，趣味畫面曝光，也引起熱烈討論。

一人分飾多角，逗趣口白，都是蘇俊穎的巧思，他從小愛看布袋戲，也收藏戲偶，憑著對布袋戲的癡迷，從創作戲偶的造型、舞臺設計、道具製作通通一手包辦，更將時下流行的卡通、戲劇或電影角色，做成掌中戲偶，成了他劇團演出的招牌特色。

[[團長蘇俊穎]]
“有白雪公主、迪士尼啦，哆啦A夢等等對我們來說，這是我們的童年。相對的，阿公阿媽的童年也有西遊記這些，就是把我們這時代所看的東西，運用布袋戲的千變萬化來呈現。”

蘇俊穎除了能展演傳統戲劇，也創新不斷，他的兒子在爸爸的耳濡目染下，操弄戲偶已經相當有架式。

蘇俊穎將傳統的布袋戲，結合流行時事，引起熱烈回響，也讓成功布袋戲，打入年輕族群。

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Huang Neng-fu
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Rinsing purple sea urchins in beer brings out the natural sweetness of their flesh

May heralds the start of the purple sea urchin season. Many people like to visit Kaohsiung’s Kezailiao Fishing Harbor to enjoy freshly gutted urchins. Each vendor has their own unique way of preparing them. Some choose to rinse them with beer, which brings out the urchin’s natural sweetness. Let’s find out more.

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The sea urchins, freshly caught this morning, were sorted by size and then cut open with scissors.

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That’s right. They rinse sea urchins in beer, remove the guts, and then serve them to customers.

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I developed this myself, and I’ve tested this myself. It works because it also washes away seawater, enhances flavor, removes fishy smells and leaves a sweet aftertaste.

May marks the start of the purple sea urchin season. Most vendors simply rinse the urchins with water, remove the digestive organs,and keep only the five yellow gonads. However, at a stall in Kezailiao Fishing Harbor in Kaohsiung, the vendors spare no expense and use beer to rinse them. What if they encounter customers who don’t drink alcohol?

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Then don’t buy it. We will stick to adding beer. We used rice wine before, but it was too strong. This is the only one that tastes right. It doesn’t matter if it’s too expensive; the important thing is that it tastes good.

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I’ve never had it with beer. I previously had sea urchin that was rinsed with plain water, and it tasted quite different because adding beer brought out its sweetness.

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The next round is on May 30.

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Yang has once again captured the international spotlight with her talents, showing that dreams can come true as long as you’re willing to persist.

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