Kharagiozis: Shadow Puppet

I love being here my second year in a row.  I keep moving outwards away from what I already know. There are things I have never understood about Greek culture, and I am in pursuit now.  One example is the shadow puppets.  I've been reading articles for years in folklore journals about the Greek shadow puppet Kharagiozis, a figure likened as a Greek version of Punch and Judy (a cultural reference that drew blanks from all my student... did Punch and Judy die out?), but I've never seen it.  This year, we happened upon a place that seemed to offer shows in Plaka.  I am still not sure whether or not this place has the shows, but I found one that definitely does down in Neo Faliron, a seaside suburb.  I took Jeremiah and Ellie down on Friday night when Phil was in Epidauraos.  It was an adventure, beginning with searching for some time on the web, then a Gringlish phone call, and finally a leap of faith that involved a 90 minute trip by feet, bus, metro, tram and feet down from the mountain to the sea.

It was hot, so we were delighted to figure out how to get to the sea at all.  When we got there, we discovered a little kids' paradise.  It started with not one but two large playgrounds, and then to Ellie's delight, there was a phenomenon we'd not seen since Aegina with Dad in 2001:  ride on cars that you could rent for a few Euros.

This is the business.  One guy sits and fixes the broken cars, while someone else sells the working ones.

Can you see the delight on her face?

 Then when we were done driving, it was time for the main event... the Karagiozis show.

This is what we came for... living folklore.

Shadow theater works with cellophane puppets against a translucent screen, with a  light between the puppeteer and the screen so you can see the puppets but not the puppeteer.

 The story is an interesting one, particularly in this economic climate.  It is about poor, wily Karagiozis trying to get the better of the Vizier who lives across from him in a big palace.  So much of Greek social relations come from the village politics of managing socio-economic difference.  The evil eye is about managing the potential for jealousy.  The insistence on respect for the individual human being regardless of status is seen in many small things, like the habit of riding in the front seat of the taxi like an equal who will chat, rather than sitting in back like being chauffeured.  So the setup of this story is Karagiozis, living in a shack across from the Vizier's palace... of course he tries to even the odds.  And sometimes he wins, and other times he loses.

Karagiozis's house, a poor shack...

....always opposite the Vizier's palace.

 It is a living folk tradition, but has shifted from being something that appealed to everyone to something we pass along to children, like nursery rhymes and folk tales.  The audience was children and their parents, and we were invited back to see how it works, as if the children need to be educated in the tradition as well as exposed to the stories.

After the show we are invited behind the screen to see how it works.