Mar 02

We Didn’t Start the Fire. The Princess Did. Because She’s Petty: “The Fiery Mountain and Its Princess”

Photo via Puppet Showplace website. Puppet by Li Chuan- tsain.

Presented by Galapagos Puppets
Puppeteering by Madeleine Beresford & Margaret Moody
Music performed by Jimmy Zhao and Iris Zhao

Bu Dai Xi puppets made by Li Chuan- tsain of I Wan Jan Troupe, Taiwan 

Script by Li Tien-lu of I Wan Jan

February 14–17, 2026
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station Street 
Brookline, MA 02445

Running time: approximately 60 minutes, no intermission

Article by Diana Lu

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Fiery Mountain and Its Princess: A Monkey King Tale, presented by Galapagos Puppets, is a rare experience of cultural legacy as a living, breathing, and playful entity. The show, performed in the traditional Taiwanese puppetry style “bu dai xi”, combined masterful yet slapstick hand puppetry, improvised riffing off of Classical Chinese music in a fantasical and famous story told in the intimate, child-friendly environment of Brookline’s Puppet Showplace Theater. Watching it, you realize that culture isn’t about artifacts painstakingly preserved. It is a relational and embodied experience to be enjoyed, connected with, and paid forward. Continue reading

Jul 17

Universal Appeal Through Puppetry: “A Chance Encounter”

Image via https://english.moc.gov.tw

Presented by Puppet Showplace Theater
Written and performed by I Wan Jan Puppet Troupe

Saturday July 13, 2019
Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station Street
Brookline, MA 02445
Puppet Showplace on Facebook 

Critique by Piyali Mukherjee

(Brookline, Mass.) I Wan Jan  is a puppet troupe from Taiwan who presented their debut and only performing show in Boston on July 14th. The troupe was founded by Li Tien-Lu, who named the group “I Wan Jan” (translation: “like natural”) because he believed that a puppet show could be as convincing as any performance by a live actor. The members of the troupe are fourth and third generation descendants of Li Tien-Lu. Continue reading