MANILA, Philippines - 2015 promises to be a good year for Philippine puppetry as far as Wanlu (photo) is concerned. On March 19 to 21 at Resorts World Manila, in celebration of World Puppetry Day, Wanlu holds his fourth Battle of Ventriloquists, plus an exhibit of ASEAN puppetry arts which will include performances by puppeteers from Indonesia and Singapore.
Wanlu also organized, with the help of Terence Tan from Singapore, an ASEAN Puppetry Exchange between Indonesia and the Philippines. In April, Wanlu has been invited by the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to hold two puppetry workshops. Wanlu finds it special considering the fact that the Philippines does not have its own puppetry art while Malaysia is famous for Wayang Kulit or shadow puppetry.
“We might not have our own puppetry art but Pinoy puppeteers are very good with ventriloquism and hand puppetry. In fact, we are probably the best in Asia,” Wanlu explains.
Dr. Luy Chee Luen of the University of Malaya has scheduled two puppetry workshops — one inside the university for students and faculties and one in a library in downtown Malaysia. From Malaysia, Wanlu flies to Tokyo, Japan to take part in the ventriloquist convention organized by the Japan Ventriloquists Association (JVA). JVA president Takeshi Ikeda has asked Wanlu to show the members of their organization how ventriloquism and puppetry were used in Tacloban after Supertyphoon Yolanda.
From Japan, Wanlu flies back to Manila for several school shows for Dolan and Jolly Cow Fresh Milk as well as environmental shows for public schools all over Luzon. His next trip will be on September for the World Puppet Carnival (WPC) in Kazakhstan. Wanlu has been designated by WPC organizer Rod Petrovic to handle the ventriloquist shows nightly during the seven-day carnival. Wanlu will also hold a ventriloquist workshop during the carnival. From Kazakhstan, Wanlu will take part in the International Marionettes Festival (IMF) in Vietnam in November. During the last IMF held in Hanoi, Wanlu received a silver award.