Late last year, he returned with the troupe to Taipei to perform a version he wrote of "Aladdin and His Magic Lamp" that incorporates a number of advanced sound and lighting effects from the contemporary stage. The performance was offered as a birthday present for his teacher, Li T'ien-lu.

At 7:30 in the evening, Jean-Luc Pensol, master of the Little Mirror Theater, and his assistant, Catherine Larue, began to set up the stage for "Aladdin and His Magic Lamp." The exotic backdrop and the colorful characters immediately captured the interest of the numerous children in the audience along with that of their parents. Several little tykes couldn't resist peeking behind stage to see what was up. "Wow! Look at that!" they exclaimed.

Then the lights went on and the show began. Aladdin's aged mother, leaning on a staff, hobbled onstage just like the old crone in a traditional Chinese puppet play.

The lights dimmed, and an evil sorcerer appeared, who promptly tricked Aladdin into going to the cave with him to fetch the magic lamp. Scenes of gorgeous flowers, lush forests, and desolate boulders were projected on the backdrop as they made their way into the mountains.

At the entrance to the cave, the sorcerer recited a magic spell and the door opened with a flash of fireworks. When Aladdin accidentally rubbed the lamp, a huge, redeyed genie appeared on the screen behind him, accompanied by sound effects from an electronic synthesizer. The simple dialogue, spoken with a slightly foreign accent, aroused the audience's boisterous laughter.

After various twists and turns of the plot, Aladdin, relying on his wit and bravery, defeated the evil sorcerer and won the hand of a beautiful princess. All the puppets danced joyously together at the finale: one, two, three, four . . . fourteen of them in all--and manipulated by just two puppeteers!

After the show, the audience pressed forward for a look backstage. "Three parts onstage, and seven parts behind," the saying goes, and indeed, instead of the drums, gongs, and Chinese fiddles of the traditional puppet theater, the backstage of the Little Mirror Theater was crammed with motors, winches, sound equipment, a slide projector, an electronic synthesizer . . . .

Compared with the Chinese puppet play just before it, which presented a story from Journey to the West, "Aladdin" was completely different in tone and spirit as well as in backstage equipment. Traditional Chinese puppet plays are mainly performed at temples and aimed at an audience of adults. So that even a story as fanciful and fun-filled as that in Journey to the West is performed in a thoroughly serious way. What knowledgeable aficionados appreciate is the refined and antiquated dialogue, the raucous pei-kuan music, and the dexterous manipulation of the puppets. For them, flashy lighting and stage effects would only spoil the show's finer points.

Children today, however, may never have been exposed to traditional Chinese music, and they often find the literary dialect of the plays largely unintelligible.

The performance by the Little Mirror Theater was aimed at just these children. The choice of script, the sets, the music, the simple dialogue, and the stunning stage effects were all designed to entertain the little ones.

Pensol was Li T'ien-lu's first foreign student and received his special attention. "Pensol has big hands and he took up puppetry fairly late," recalls Li's son, Li Ch'ang-ts'an, now a Chinese puppetry instructor. "Somebody told him that drinking vinegar would make his bones softer, and he really did drink it just like water, glass after glass."

Many of us may have come into contact with Chinese puppetry at an earlier age, but few of us can harbor the same devotion toward it.

After performing "Aladdin" the Little Mirror Theater went off to Hong Kong and mainland China, but they left behind a script and a tape recording for local troupes interested in expanding the possibilities of traditional Chinese puppetry.

[Picture Caption]

This giant genie looks fearsome, but take a look behind. He's really just the shadow from a piece of wood.

Using a slide projector to project different backgrounds, match ed with advanced lighting and sound effects, provides a new experience for Chinese puppet fans.

"Three parts onstage, seven parts behind." The traditional drums, gongs, and fiddles have been replaced by advanced sound equipment, a slide projector, and a synthesizer.

Besides making use of modern gadgetry, Pensol and his assistant are no slouches at manipulation either.

Pensol's devotion to his art is intense.

This giant genie looks fearsome, but take a look behind. He's really just the shadow from a piece of wood.

This giant genie looks fearsome, but take a look behind. He's really just the shadow from a piece of wood.

Using a slide projector to project different backgrounds, match ed with advanced lighting and sound effects, provides a new experience for Chinese puppet fans.

"Three parts onstage, seven parts behind." The traditional drums, gongs, and fiddles have been replaced by advanced sound equipment, a slide projector, and a synthesizer.

Besides making use of modern gadgetry, Pensol and his assistant are no slouches at manipulation either.

Pensol's devotion to his art is intense.