人形劇団クラルテ
人形劇団クラルテは1948年、第二次世界大戦後の大阪の焼け跡から生まれました。 ヨーロッパでは第一次世界大戦が終わった時、焼け跡の隅々に、人々の荒廃した心に文化の灯火をともそうと、アンリ・バリュビウスやロマン・ローランが文化運動、クラルテ・ムーブメントを興しましたが、クラルテの劇団名はそこからとったものです。
 たとえささやかなものであっても、明るい文化の火をともし続けたいという思いは、創立当初からかわることはありません。
 人形劇団クラルテは子どもから、大人まで楽しめる人形劇をつくり上演しています。学校の巡回公演は劇団創立当時から重要な活動として継続し、また幼児のためには「おひさま劇場」という公演スタイルで全国を飛び回っています。
 大人を対象としたものとしては、近松門左衛門の作品をはじめ、シェークスピアなど古今東西の名作を現代人形劇として取り上げ毎年秋に劇場上演しています。
 また、クラルテでは人形劇の向上のために研究所を設け、人形劇制作に関する講座もおこなっています。

PUPPET THEATER  LA CLARTE

Puppet Theater "LA CLARTE" was founded in Osaka in 1948, three years after Japan had lost the world war II in 1945. The war damaged hearts of people. We thought that people must have culture at such a time. When World War I was over in Europe, Henri Barbusse and Romain Rolland launched "the Clarte Movement" to relieve a heart of people hurt by war.

The name of our theatrical company "La Clarte" was connected to it. The meaning of "la clarte" is "light" in French.

We are active in touring schools and kindergartens all over Japan. The smallest group which performs a puppet play consists of just two people. we have a lot of repertories for children, they are folktales from Japan and world, children's stories of the present age, and our original works.

Sometimes more than 30 puppeteers play big performances in theatrical halls.

Our audience is from 0 years to an adult. Especially for adults, we have performed Shakespear's works as well as Japanese traditional works such as Monzaemon Chikamatsu's as modern puppetry. We've got many Prizes for those works.

Prizes :
"An ugly white stork" won the Encouragement Prize of Osaka in 1958.
We played Chikamatsu's work "Onna-goroshi-abura-no-jigoku" in 1972 and got a Prize of Osaka-Art-Festival for the work in 1973.
"Shusse-Kagekiyo" received the Osaka Encouragement Prize and
the Prefecture People Prize in 1958.
We built a current three-storied atelier in 1982.
Chikamatsu's "Kokusen-ya gassen" received a Prize of Osaka-Art-Festival in 1988.
"Chiru-wa-Sakura-no-Hana-nomika" won a Prize of Osaka-Art-Festival in 1990.

Recommendation works by Ministry of Health and Welfare center Child Welfare Council in Japan:

"Dance, dance, TamTam","Silent Story","Wolf and seven kids",
"Three little pigs", "Sonya and a Witch in a forest", following abbreviation.