The master of puppets August 30, 2007
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Shadow theatre based on the stories of Karagiozis has long been popular in Cyprus and in Greece. One master of the art is taking a performance to Iran
Like many Cypriots, Christodoulos Antoniou Paphios is a man who knows how to pull strings. But Paphios is rather different than the rest, he is a shadow theatre puppeteer and a renowned one to say the least.
Cyprus is set to participate in an international festival for shadow theatre taking place in Iran on August 28 and Paphios will be our man out there.
He has already taken part in festivals around Europe and is now looking forward to taking his show to another continent. Performing his act, The Eerie Tree, Paphios, also a member of the Pan-Hellenic Association of Shadow Theatre and Association of Friends of Karagiozis, was selected to represent the island at the upcoming festival. “I have never performed in Asia, so I am really interested about the response of the audience,” he said. “I will also be looking forward to seeing other artists and their work.”
Speaking about the prospect of playing in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in what will be the 13th event of the International Ritual-Traditional Theatre Festival, Paphios said that he would attempt to do his own extensive research to please his newly awaiting audience. “Iran is well known for shadow theatre because of its ancient Persian tradition, so, if I have enough time, I’ll do some research and buy some new puppets to add to my collection.
“Anyone wanting to participate in the festival had to send a tape of their recorded performance,” he continued. “Then a special commission from the Dramatic Centre of Iran chose the artists and plays. Mine was one of the selected performances.”
The non Greek-speaking audience will be given a translated copy of the transcript of his performance at the festival.
Paphios took his passion for shadow theatre from his grandfather, Christodoulos Paphios, who is regarded as the best-known puppeteer of a generation. Paphios had been helping his grandfather from an early age. After finishing his studies in France, he then collected his grandfather’s puppets and gave his first performance in 1983.
When his grandfather died in 1987, at the age of 83, Paphios decided to continue the family tradition and embarked on an international career participating in festivals in Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic, Spain and France. During his journeys, Paphios also brings back puppets from the countries that he visits, adding to a collection of around 400 puppets that will be exhibited on September 17 at the University of Cyprus.
Paphios explained that he would be dedicating the exhibition to his mentor and grandfather. “I am going to show the puppets, photos and drawings of my grandfather,” he added. During the exhibition Paphios will perform a tribute to his grandfather by staging the tale of Alexander the Great and the Dragon, a favourite of both grandfather and grandson.
Paphios is also set to perform a landmark show in Lapithos, in the Turkish occupied north area of Cyprus, on September 21 and will perform a show with a rather different twist. “I will perform Eurovision,” he explained with a smile. “Each of my puppets will sing a different song, but it all will be about communication and friendship.”
Believing that the tradition of shadow theatre must be cultivated and passed down in his family, he is hoping that one day his son, Antonis, will follow in his family’s footsteps. He will be contributing to a remarkable legacy.
THE EERIE TREE > The Eerie Tree is a traditional story that features the famous character of Karagiozis (‘black eyes’ in Turkish). Karagiozis characterises poor people, and is usually the main speaker of the play.
In this particular tale, the title tree has become haunted by the bad spirit, which transforms everyone who steps under the tree into an animal. Every animal, according to the tale, is the alter ego of the transformed individual. Transformed into a donkey, Karagiozis finally manages to defeat the bad spirit by being enormously happy as a donkey since he can eat and make love whenever and wherever he wants. This in turn prompts the disgruntled bad spirit to convert all its victims back to their normal selves.
