Dancing with the dolls
Adaptation
Dhaatu Puppet Theatre, along with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, recently held a string puppet show at the National Gallery of Modern Art.
The show was called Shilappadhikaram and based on the Tamil epic of the same name by Ilango Adigal. It was also influenced by the line drawings of K K Hebbar on the same topic.
The hour-long show was directed by Anupama Hoskere. Talking about the initiative, she said, “It was very gratifying for us to come up with this show as it was an adaptation of one of the greatest pieces in Tamil Literature. Even the audience was full of energy and appreciated the nuances of this medium.”
The play revolved around a woman named Kannagi, her husband Kovalan and Madhavi, his mistress.
It opened with a benedictory verse to the elements of nature like the sun, moon, rain and also the glorious city of Puhaar, in which the play was set. The puppets carried the drawings of artist K K Hebbar.
The show described the dance forms, festivals, celebrations, trade and beliefs of the people of the southern parts of India.
An interesting scene depicted the festival of Indra, where fisherwomen performed kolata at the altar.
Anupama added, “The storyline shed light on the upholding of dharma and the responsibilities of a ruler. It spun myth and reality into a fascinating story.”
Another interesting aspect was the live music playing in the background.
The stage-setting was elaborate and the puppets had been crafted keeping an eye on detail. It was a treat for the audience to witness these puppets in action playing to live music and dialogues.
The live music was performed by Srivatsa D S on the vocals, Praveen Kumar on the nattuvanga, Mahesh Swamy on the flute, Lingaraju on the mridangam and Sangeeth Thomas on the keyboard. Vidyashankar H N and Anupama Hoskere delivered the dialogues.
According to Anupama, such programmes are important as they uphold the traditional values among people, especially the younger generation.
She asserted, “The urban families of today are financially successful, educated and aware. While at many levels, they are able to obtain what they set out to achieve, there are some areas where they fall short. We lose sight of traditional beliefs. Bridging this gap between our ancient roots and the present times is the need of the hour.”
