Resuscitating the art of puppetry

The children of Class VII from the Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources breathed new life into the age-old art of puppetry by staging a performance at Tummalapalli Kshetrayya Kalakshetram on Friday. The audience, though small in number, were thrilled to watch the art form. The show was presented as part of the state level stage arts festival that is being organised by the Andhra Nataka Kala Parishat.

Drawn from the famous ‘Panchatantra’ tales, the children presented the show considerably well. The story of the hare and tortoise went well with the audiences, taking them down the memory lane.

The team work displayed by the children, E Sumia, G Nirosha, Y SRinivasulu, P Balaraju, K Kiran, S Bhavana and Karthika, in presenting the story with puppets displayed the hard work that the was put in to organising the programme.

“Teachers at the Rishi Valley Rural Education Centre got involved in puppet theatre to help in preventing the loss of this art form. We took this art form into the classroom to involve the students in the teaching-learning process,” said G Anil Dutt, a teacher from the institute who accompanied the children for the presentation.

“In the classroom we use puppets prepared by the teachers and students for teaching lessons from history, politics, science and technology,” he said.Anil Dutt asserted that such shows have changed the whole classroom atmosphere with children becoming part of the lesson.

“The art can be used to communicate ideas relating to mathematics, science, the environment and other domains where there are lessons to be learnt. Puppets can be of great help in the learning experience for students with special needs,” he added.

The teachers and students at Rishi Valley had received initial training in puppetry from the historical Dharmavaram Puppeteers of Ananthapur district in Andhra Pradesh.

“The puppeteers in the village have been keeping the art alive for more than 200 years. And with institutions like Rishi Valley adopting it, the art will live forever,” asserted writer D Chandrasekhar, after watching the show.