Mastering the craft of puppets and puppetry

SINGAPORE — Growing up, Benjamin Ho, 49, puppeteer and artistic director of Paper Monkey Theatre, was fascinated by The Muppet Show.

That fascination with talking hand puppets started when Ho was just four. He recalled often secretly staying past his bed-time to catch the children’s television series.

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His interest in puppets and puppetry grew even as he got older. Today, Ho is a professional puppeteer and also teaches his craft to a younger generation of aspiring artists.

The youngest child in a family of seven siblings, he was often left to his own devices, and soon found himself researching in the school library on how to make them.

“Nobody played with me, so I played with my puppets, I was quite an oddball growing up, not many friends... boys and girls will not talk to me much. I grew up quite a lonely child. The puppets are the ones I communicate with, so I felt that they were my true friends,” he explained.

His interest in puppetry and decision to make a career out of it did not sit well with his “traditional” parents.

Although Ho enrolled at the National University of Singapore (NUS), he dropped out before graduating and enrolled himself at the National Institute of Education (NIE).

He went on to become a teacher for three years before becoming a full-time puppeteer at the age of 28 when playwright Kuo Pao Kun invited him to join puppet troupe The Finger Players.

Ho trained in traditional hand puppetry for a year, and travelled to several countries, including Prague in Eastern Europe to study the art of string puppet-making, which explains his knowledge and versatility in different genres of the art, including shadow, rod and string puppetry.

Growing up poor, and in a big family, also meant that Ho had to improvise and use everyday materials such as milk cartons and medicine bottles to create his puppets.

More than 40 years on, he has over 200 puppets in his collection. When the opportunity arises to make puppets for his productions, he uses items — recycled, bought or given by others — such as plastic cups, paint rollers, and paint brushes.

The puppets are bought from all over the world, including some from Yunlin in Taiwan, which is the birthplace of traditional hand puppetry, according to Ho. The most expensive in his repertoire? A single string puppet that costs US$1,000 (S$1,368), and Ho has a pair in his collection.

He has since stopped buying puppets because he has run out of storage space. On the first floor of his office at Goodman Arts Centre, puppets can be seen neatly wrapped and packed in plastic boxes and suitcases. But Ho hopes to have his own space to do an exhibition in the future.

Although “all puppets to (him) are just as beautiful”, he counts a string puppet — one that bears an uncanny resemblance to Albert Einstein — from Vienna as one of his favourites. It was given to him by a friend.

These days, he rarely makes his own puppets, except on a “friendship and project” basis. Most recently, he was commissioned to make puppets that were used in the dark comedy play Hand to God by Singapore Repertory Theatre, which ran from April 19 to May 6 this year.

Just as The Muppet Show brought him joy as a child, Ho founded Paper Monkey Theatre for the very same reason: To expose children to meaningful and quality Asian stories via puppetry and theatre.

The group won Best Production for the Young, an award for children’s theatre at this year’s M1-The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards.

“The first time I saw theatre, I loved theatre, so I want to share this joy that I have with children... I have seen (how) arts (have) changed children. I hope by doing quality children shows with good morals, they may look back into our heritage,” said Ho, who also teaches drama and puppetry part-time in schools.

Though Ho is currently on a look out for a successor, he plans to do a children’s show once a year after he retires to “carry on (his) passion”.

“Children’s laughter and applause is the best reward anyone can get,” he quipped.