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A man coming up with clever ways to find a bride, a girl trying to break free of cloying conventions, performers magically transforming cubes into animals, a musician trying to get back from an underwater palace, a little girl trying to outwit a big bad bear - it's all happening in the enchanting world of puppetry. The 11th Ishara Puppet Theatre Festival, founded by master puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee and organised by the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, takes you through the forests of Russia, the Portuguese seaside, and to the Bulgarian countryside.
Ten plays are being showcased this year. The emphasis is not so much on dialogue as it is on movement, theatrics and expression - this year, there are a host of non-verbal plays, especially from overseas. "In puppetry, language can sometimes interfere. Contemporary groups are now creating theatre that doesn't need language. So you have the Italian production, Nonso and Nonsa, where two puppets are grappling with their problems in a funny Charlie Chaplin-esque sort of a way," says Sanjoy Roy, founder, Teamwork Productions (which is producing the festival). "Puppetry transcends all language and yet has a language of its own."
Another example is the folktale presented by the Pro Rodopi Art Centre from Bulgaria where a man comes up with a unique way of finding a bride: he goes from village to village with his donkey, offering fresh, juicy plums to girls in exchange for their house garbage. The director, Peter Todorov, has used a mix of live acting and puppetry, with emphasis on music, to bring his tale to life. "The story is full of humour and self irony. It is typical of the Bulgarian lifestyle as we love to laugh and joke about ourselves. More importantly, this story takes people to the traditional values which seem to have been forgotten in this globalised world," says Todorov.
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While a majority of puppet shows enthrall kids, Ishara will present two shows targeted at adults: Bernarda's Backstage, performed by Spain's Winged Crane and directed by Alejandra Prieto, and Heer Ke Waris by Pudumjee. The former, according to Roy, is a transformative piece about a mother's tyranny and a girl's rebellion against the traditional roles carved out for women. Pudumjee's play, adapted by Maheep Singh from the original story by Waris Shah, is in Hindi and Punjabi and draws on contemporary issues. "The events that took place in the 18th century story have been interpreted in the modern context of honour killing, female foeticide, child marriage and lovers rebelling against the system," says Pudumjee. "Today, a lot of groups perform for adults; it is not unusual."
A majority of plays this year make use of multimedia technology such as optical illusions, animation and video projections to tell the story. For instance, illusions bring to life the uniqueness of the pier in the Portuguese play. Pudumjee too has made use of overhead projectors to create a spellbinding presentation. The team of Bernarda's Backstage combine Japanese bunraku puppets, shadow puppetry and toy theatre with video projections to create a complex world. According to director Prieto, the use of different media allows the audience to perceive reality in a richer way. The projections help people to see beyond the physical presence of the characters and enter into their psychology. "Puppets are used as a means and not as an end to tell stories. A puppeteer, nowadays, creates a synergy between traditional techniques with other art forms," concludes Pudumjee.
The festival is on at Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh from April 8 to 16. For details, visit isharapuppet.com
