|
On Wednesday, 15th February 2012, it was an absolute delight to watch puppeteer Laura Kibel from Rome, Italy at the NCPA's Little Theatre. Her 'Teatro Dei Piedi' (Theatre of the Feet) was one of the groups invited for the Ishara International Puppet Theatre Festival that took place in Delhi, Gurgaon and at the NCPA in Mumbai. True to her group's name, Miss Kibel demonstrated a unique style of puppetry, which involved her whole body, but most impressively, her legs and her feet. Here was a multi-faceted artiste - a musician, a costume and set designer for theatre and cinema, a specialist model-maker, a sound composer, who not only made her puppets and designed her show, but who also used her limbs with great skill and agility to display the puppets of her little dramas.
These little dramas came out from animated and brightly coloured trunks- all arranged around Miss Kibel, who displayed her virtuosity from the centre of the stage. More than being stories, the little situational pieces or rather the protagonists of these pieces - in the form of a variety of puppet-characters- all picking their noses at their entry, were simple, funny, and readily identifiable. The themes ranged from two men fighting to a man trying quite unsuccessfully to soothe a bawling child. One of the highlights was a group of musicians attempting to play different kinds of music. Clearly meant to showcase Miss Kibel's skills and dexterity with the puppets fixed on her feet, knees, thighs, the characters as they emerged from one trunk to the other, were simply charming.
There were little surprises hidden away in the costumes of the puppets and in the props that were dramatically revealed at different times in the performance, while the small portable CD player was a key accompaniment to Miss Kibel's acrobats with her legs and her feet. The music made for an ideal setting, which was otherwise completely dependent on Miss Kibel's body leading the puppets. A tad repetitive with the initial 'wow' element becoming familiar mid-way, Miss Kibel's show is nevertheless remarkable. Her legs create magic and an ingenious language of performance.
It's a pity that there was only one show of it as part of the three-day festival, which also featured groups from Australia and Ireland. While the NCPA's Little Theatre was right for this kind of show (although the show is conducive to all kinds of spaces), it is a small theatre. The organisers could consider moving the festival to the larger Experimental theatre and could also program more shows so that more young and old audiences alike can enjoy them.
The Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust was founded by Dadi Pudumjee, a leading puppeteer from India and a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee. India has its own distinct traditions of puppet theatre but they are usually classified under folk performing traditions and are not mainstream. Puppet theatre in India has by and large been confined to 'variety shows', or is seen in the context of its traditional form/s. To find new vocabularies like Miss Kibel's, attitudes towards puppet theatre in India need to change. I believe the talent is there to be explored. In the meanwhile, festivals like this one, thanks to the efforts of the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust and Teamwork Productions, offer a great platform for showcasing contemporary work such as this.
*Deepa Punjani is Editor of this website.
|
