The Ishara International Puppet Festival is all set to return, bringing mystery and magic alive with 150 companies participating from across the world
It would have been one of the most intriguing parts of somebody’s childhood — puppet shows. There was a time when puppets told stories, jokes, interacted with humans, made the kids laugh and most importantly, seemed to be like a real character.
To bring back the experience, from Brazil to Italy, Iceland to Tunisia — the Ishara International Puppet Theatre Festival once again travels the world to curate its line-up for this year’s edition. The festival celebrates its 17th anniversary with a diverse range of performances, communicating across language barriers and defining the social, cultural and emotional bonds that humanity shares.
Besides many Indian puppet artists, there will be performers from across four continents showcasing an array of talent from over 150 international puppet companies.
From the traditional to modern forms of puppetry, ranging from rod to string puppets, there will be a range of performances with dance, theatre and music. The festival, that has been curating puppet shows for over thirty years, aims to educate, enrich and transform communities through puppetry.
Some participating countries are UK, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Iran, Afghanistan, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and the USA.
“It’s been over thirty years of Ishara puppet theatre and the love for puppetry has grown in people. For us, 2019 is the year of celebration. One will witness that in the performances of new groups from Brazil to Iceland along with various unconventional acts. For instance, the one by Italy uses soap bubbles as a medium for puppetry. There’s a lot in store and we are delighted to have the audience experience it,” says Dadi D Pudumjee, founder, the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust.
(The festival begins from February 1 and will go on till February 9 at the Indian Habitat Centre.)