Dave and Gerry's Alonissos Island Information Site
Dave and Gerry's Alonissos Island Information Site |
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Shadow Puppet Show July 2009 |
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Posters went up around Patitiri and the Old Town advertising two shadow puppet shows to take place on Tuesday 7th July in Patitiri and on the following day Wednesday July 8th in the Old Town. There was no indication on the poster where the shadow puppet show would take place in the Old Town but last year and the previous year they took place at Plateia Iroon by the war memorial. A picture of the sign for the puppet show in the Old Town can be seen on the right. The show was supposed to start at 9pm and we were at the Paradise Hotel between 7pm and 9pm for a mini quiz with our partners Jan and Jeff Moon. A soon as the quiz ended we jumped straight into their car and headed up to the Old Town, knowing from previous years that the show probably wouldn't start on time as it is not that dark at 9pm and it needs to be dark for the show to have its maximum effect. To our surprise the show was held in the Plateia where the bus stops outside Taverna Panselinos. |
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The shadow box had already been constructed and the puppeteers and audience were getting ready for the show. The shadow puppet show is named after the main character "Karagiozis" who has one arm which is very long. He is based on a Turkish character who was a bit sly and eventually morphed into a Greek version of "Del Boy". There are a number of other puppet characters who come into the stories but Karagiozis always seems to be able to outwit them all. When the children and adults had seated themselves the puppeteer came out and asked questions of the children and gave prizes to those who answered them correctly. There were white chairs in front of the light box which were full of children with lots of adults sat on the wall opposite or under the pine trees at the chairs and tables of Taverna Panselinos or Taverna Peri Orexios. The puppet show started and although these images with our digital camera are not great you can get a feel for what the audience are enjoying. This close up of the light box shows how the shadow puppets really stand out in the darkness of the night. During the show we went up to Taverna Peri Orexios for a bite to eat and from their balcony which overlooks the plateia you can see the behind the scenes organisation of the show. The show ended around 10.45pm and the puppeteer blew up balloons and handed them out to the children before putting the puppets and light box to bed. We had a thoroughly good evening and so did everyone who was their to witness a very special part of Greek culture. |
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