GUWAHATI, April 27 � Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra reverberated with sounds of laughter as the well-known contemporary puppeteer Swapan Roy enthralled the students of Delhi Public School and Maria Public School with a special show of his contemporary puppetry on the sixth day of 6th Indian Puppetry Festival on Wednesday.
The ongoing workshop on puppetry got a real boost on the sixth day of the festival as the participants learned more about the art of puppetry making � especially glove and shadow puppetry � under the guidance national reputes puppeteers Hanumant Rao and H Chandrasekhar.
Later, the audience was entertained by Ramakrishna Kottapommalatta Company from Tamil Nadu with their traditional string puppetry play Panjali Shabdam. Natana Kairali, a traditional glove puppetry group from Kerala performed their famous play Duryodhana Vadha. The next play to follow was Kalia Daman, a string puppetry play of Manipur performed by Manipur�s famous string puppetry group Moppet Decoration and Cultural Centre, Imphal. Karna Parva, a traditional shadow puppetry play performed by Prasananjaney Brundam from Andhra Pradesh, was the last play to be staged on the day.
Tomorrow the puppetry festival will begin with the staging of Sabitri-Satyaban, a traditional string puppetry play, which will be performed by Thakurdas Saboni Putul Nach group from West Bengal. The next show to be followed will be the play Amar Singh Rathore, which will be performed by Dhanna Bhatt and party, a traditional string puppetry group of Rajasthan. Sampoorna Ramayana, a traditional shadow puppetry play performed by Ravanachhaya Natya Sansad, a traditional shadow puppetry group of Orissa will follow next.
MilanYadav and group from Uttar Pradesh will then perform Gulabao-Sitabo, a traditional glove puppetry play which will be immediately followed by a contemporary puppetry play Kabir. Koyya Bommala Kala Brundam, a traditional string puppetry group from Andhra Pradesh will draw curtains for the day with their play Chenchu Lakshmi.
Earlier, Sunday drew the biggest audience to the Kalakshetra which saw the staging of a number of acclaimed plays by troupes from different States. While Beni Putul Theatre, a traditional string puppetry troupe from Tripura, staged two shows named Madan Puli Biye and Tepa Tepi Ki Katha, Tejimala, a show based on the immortal folktale from Burhi Aair Sadhu presented by Sagarika Puppet Theatre of Assam turned out to be the biggest hit.
Maa Mangala Natya Kala Parishad, a string puppetry group from Orissa, staged Sita Thaba immediately after the staging of Tejimala. The evening puppetry shows witnessed an overwhelming gathering of audience. Narayan Deka�s string puppetry group from Nalbari, Assam Puppet Theatre, staged Shakuntala; which was followed by a contemporary puppetry play named Taming of the Wild, which was staged by Dolls Theatre, Kolkata.
Karnataka�s traditional string puppetry troupe, Bhuvaneshwari Sutrada Gombe Mela staged Panchavati. The day ended with the play, Bihula Lakhinder, staged by Jou Guru Sajal Opera, a traditional string puppetry group from Tripura.
A puppetry workshop also got under way at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra on Sunday as part of the ongoing puppetry festival.
The workshop is being conducted by Archana Talukdar of the Puppetry wing, Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Assam. The participants are being mainly taught the art of making glove puppets and performing glove puppetry in the six-day workshop which will conclude on April 29. The participants of the workshop will later stage a play under the guidance of Talukdar.
Renowned shadow puppeteers from Orissa, Hanumant Rao and Chandrasekhar are acting as resource persons in the workshop.
