Celebrating storytelling through puppets at international fest

Puppeteers from five countries are bringing with them a range of modern and traditional forms of puppetry ranging from rod, string and shadow puppets at the Ishara International Puppet Theatre Festival.
The event, which first began in the year 2001 has till now brought productions from 90 countries, is set to open on February 3 and continues for 10 days with a range of puppetry, mixed performances with dance, theatre, music and more.
Performances have been scheduled in Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh. This year groups from Afghanistan, Iran, Portugal, Taiwan, and three Indian groups are participating.
"We try to bring both traditional and modern puppeteers together", says Padma Shri Dadi Pudumjee, a leading Indian puppeteer and founder of Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust.

Alongside Indian talent, countries that have participated include US, Brazil, Belgium, Afghanistan, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Ireland and Iran.
Famous hand-shadow puppeteer Drew Colby from Britain brings "Small Fables" inspired from well known fables of La Fontaine and Aesop.

This 45 minute performance uses shadows, projections and handshadows.
"Paper Play" from Taiwan uses paper changes in over 50 different types of character.
Adventures by Pinocchio is set to be brought to life through the "Kuch Kuch Puppet Theatre" in "Pinocchio- The Wood Boy", directed and created by Indian puppeteer Shameem Ansari.

Ishara's own presentation "Heer Ke Waris", created and directed by Dadi Pudumjee, brings to life the timeless tale of star-crossed lovers Heer and Ranjha by Punjabi Sufi poet Waris Shah.
The musical performance in Hindi interweaves puppets, actors, dance, visual images and music in a poetic presentation.
Interestingly, Dadi's work also found space in the recent Bollywood film "Haider" starring Shahid Kapoor and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The modern day adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet used Dadi's puppets in a song titled "Bismil".