Myanmar Puppets
To our study, there were no hand puppets or glove puppets in the olden days of Myanmar. Myanmars specialize only into marionettes (puppets with strings hanged from above). Myanmar puppets are mostly made of wood, painted, then costumed with real apparel appropriately.
The Set of 28 Puppets
Rather than making each puppets for each show, a set of 28 puppets basically predefined by Myanmar puppeteers. It is said that creation of 28 of them were based on 28 types of elements of a man’s body. Here they are…
King
Prince
Princess
General
Minister or the Advisor to the King
Monkey
Comedians, sometimes in a pair
Zawgyee: Yogi, alchemist who possess supernatural powers
Boy
Girl
Ogre, the oriental gargoyle
Hunchback: Tale bearing bunchbacked person, usually an old woman
Horse
