At the recent 10th Puppet Festival at Tagore Theatre, artists opined that puppetry could help children and adults in a million ways, especially in the post-Covid world

Mona

The process by which the inanimate becomes animate seems to be a real miracle to the audience,” said Sergei Obraztsov, a Russian puppeteer, credited with establishing puppetry in the erstwhile Soviet Union. This miracle was on full display at the recently concluded 10th Puppet Festival at Tagore Theatre. Children as well as adults were seen clapping, shouting, stomping and waving gleefully as Frans Hakkemars from Poppentheater, Netherlands, brought Jan Klaassen, Katrijn & The Crown of King William Alexander’ on to the stage on the inaugural day on Monday.

“Puppetry is plagued by two major myths — one that it is for children, and second that it’s a dying art,” shared Maneesh Pachiaru, one amongst the enthusiastic audience. An actor, and a puppeteer, he said, “Most ancient form in puppetry is shadow puppetry and it is believed to be almost 2,500 years old.

Tholpavakoothu is one of the ancient forms of leather shadow puppetry in Kerala and is practiced by the Pulavar community since 350 CE. The art has survived for thousands of years and is here to stay.”

That it’s an art form only for children is what puppeteers from Hungary, Italy and South Korea challenged with their shows that engrossed all age groups. In fact, Frans started his career working on political themes aimed at adults. He moved onto to explore different themes over his 40-year journey. Puppetry, being a participative art, especially in case of Frans, makes so much sense in the post-Covid world. Puppetry competes with TV and cinema, as well as digital mediums, as a form of entertainment. Considering how Covid made us all even more dependent on screens, it makes a valid case for puppetry to be back and make the audience enjoy something participative.

“The pandemic was bad time for puppeteers, but as the world opened we have seen puppetry enjoy a huge boost in Netherlands,” shared Frans. Puppetry started as a hobby when he studied sociology, Frans performed ancient European stories like Reynard the Fox and the Dutch Punch, amongst others.

Italian act

Italian puppeteer Teatro brought award winning Il Fil’Armonico and The Armonic String to the city. “A universal story that all can relate to is what I strive for. Puppets can magically come to life as funny and relatable characters teaching about love and all its colourful mysteries,” says Teatro. It was a show by Italian puppeteer Otello Sarzi many years back that Teatro loved immensely and that pushed him to pursue puppetry. “When a puppet is playing well, it grabs the attention of all, even the most technological people,” vouches Teatro, who often does folk tales, educating and entertaining children and adults alike. A naughty dog, kooky bird, a crazy belly dancer and a mischievous cameraman pull at the heartstrings of the young and old alike. “Puppetry, like any other art form, can suit any age group, theme or context,” emphasises Maneesh, who made a show on the history of City Beautiful.

Hungarian flavour

Hungarian puppeteer Szervac Horvath opted for the art as he loved to bring a smile to children’s faces. In Chandigarh with the fairy tale The Dragon and the Devil, based on traditional Hungarian folk stories, he supplemented his act with traditional Hungarian songs, magic and many twists. “We painted all the backdrops and created a scenery here in India. We brought the puppets from home, which are original Czech and Hungarian handmade works by local artists.”

If Chandigarh folks witnessed the stories from far-off lands, the visiting artistes were in for a surprise too. It was fascinating for the audience to watch the King and the Queen of Holland ride a coach to Tagore, but Fras, on his maiden Indian visit, was pretty perplexed. “We are a small country with like 17 million people, and often complain back home that it’s crowded; here in India the word got a new dimension for me,” he laughed.

Puppeteer Sangsahwa, from South Korea, who gave the last show on Thursday, shared, “A puppet can heal someone’s heart in the current times of stress and strife.”