偶戲的香港故事：追蹤香港偶戲的發展軌跡

The Stories of Hong Kong Puppetry: From Tradition to Contemporary Practice

偶戲作為一種獨立的表演藝術常被當做工具並處於邊緣的位置。關於偶戲的實務與理論探討，長期以來多見於歐洲和英美偶戲界。2025年，耿一偉主編的《物的轉向：當代偶戲美學讀本》嘗試開啟華文世界有關當代全球偶戲及物件劇場的討論，卻未涉及包括香港在內的其他華文地區。在香港，國際演藝評論家協會（香港分會）整理的《香港戲劇評論報刊資料初編（1960-1999）》（2007）從標題來看有關偶戲的紀錄不足十條。然而，自2000年代前後至今，偶戲在香港的發展已呈現多樣化的面貌，當中包括大型及社區藝術節展演、木偶巡遊、偶戲劇團的創建及演作、公眾工作坊等。
本項研究旨在梳理1970年代以來偶戲在香港的發展軌跡，探討偶戲在本地文化建構中的角色。筆者以1970年代發表於香港的文學及文化刊物（如《中國學生周報》、《70年代》、《大拇指》）的數篇文化報導為起點，結合1980年代以來香港出版的偶戲專書和2006-2014年間的香港戲劇年鑑，以及筆者2021-2024年作為素人學員在香港奇想偶戲劇團的參與式觀察，考察當代香港偶戲的文化景觀。從中發現，在本地文化基建的作用下，「香港偶戲」作為一個有待建構的文化概念背後的兩條發展軌跡：多方的努力令香港的「偶戲」既傳承了「非遺」民間技藝，引入歐美嘉年華文化及現代偶戲，亦開展了當代偶戲及物件劇場的演作實驗。因此，「香港」已由傳統偶戲的生存空間和展演空間逐漸成為當代偶戲劇場的敘事焦點。可以說，「香港偶戲」在東西方文化互動中參與了世界偶戲史的數個關鍵時刻，從中汲取自我發展的養分，書寫具備地方營造功能的香港故事。然而，香港偶戲目前的發展仍然處於不穩定狀態，一旦缺乏或失去本地文化網絡的支持，如何鞏固本地偶戲既有成果並繼續開創，同時進行偶戲劇場存檔及研究，仍是香港偶戲持續發展和主體建構所需面對的問題。

As an independent performing art, puppetry is often treated as an instrument and placed in a marginal position. Discussions of puppetry in both practice and theory have long been concentrated in the European and Anglo-American puppetry worlds. In 2025, The Transformation of Objects: The Aesthetics of Contemporary Puppetry, edited by Keng Yi-wei, attempted to initiate discussions on contemporary global puppetry and object theatre in the Chinese-speaking world, but it did not include other Chinese-speaking regions, including Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the Preliminary Bibliography of Drama Criticism in Hong Kong (1960–1999) (2007), compiled by the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong), contains fewer than ten entries on puppetry by title alone. Yet since around the early 2000s, the current development of Hong Kong puppetry has taken increasingly diverse forms, including large-scale and community arts festival presentations, puppet parades, the establishment and production of puppetry companies, and public workshops.
This study aims to trace the development of puppetry in Hong Kong since the 1970s and to examine the role of puppetry in local cultural construction. It begins with cultural reports published in Hong Kong literary and cultural periodicals in the 1970s—such as The Chinese Student Weekly, The 70s Biweekly, and The Thumb—and, together with puppetry monographs published in Hong Kong since the 1980s, theatre yearbooks published between 2006 and 2014, as well as my participant observation as a novice trainee at Fantasy Puppet Theatre Company from 2021 to 2024, investigates the cultural landscape of the current development of Hong Kong puppetry.
The study finds that, under the influence of local cultural infrastructure,“Hong Kong puppetry,”as a cultural concept still in the process of formation, has developed along two major trajectories. Through multiple efforts, puppetry in Hong Kong has both preserved the folk crafts as traditional intangible cultural heritage, and introduced European and American carnival culture and modern puppetry, while also opening up experimental practices in contemporary puppetry and puppet theatre. Therefore,“Hong Kong”has gradually shifted from being merely a site of survival and performance for traditional puppetry to becoming the narrative focus of contemporary puppet theatre. In this sense,“Hong Kong puppetry”has participated in several key moments in world puppetry history through cultural interaction between East and West, drawing nourishment for its own development and contributing to place-making storytelling. However, the current development of Hong Kong puppetry remains unstable. Without a supportive local cultural network, how to consolidate existing achievements and continue to innovate, while also archiving and researching puppet theatre, remains a challenge for the continued development and subject formation of Hong Kong puppetry.