New Delhi

Puppets turn storytellers

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: Based on the first story of Marguerite Yourcenar's book "Nouvelles Orientales", a unique puppet show for children will be organised at M. L. Bhartia auditorium here at Lodhi Estate on September 1.

Titled "How was Wang Fo saved?", the show is being organised jointly by Alliance Francaise de Delhi and the Embassy of France. The characters are represented through masks, puppets and shadow-puppets and the meeting of masks and puppets produces a contrast of scale that makes the narration fluid.

"How was Wang Fo saved?" is the story of a painter in the kingdom of Han, who possessed the power of bringing life to his paintings. Unfortunately one day Wang Fo is arrested and thrown at the mercy of the young Emperor, who is embittered that he has grown up watching the world through the former's dazzling but untrue representation of life.

The Emperor asks Wang Fo to paint one last youthful painting, a landscape where water and mountains are to be shown together. As Wang Fo starts to paint, water begins to seep into the courtyard and so the intelligent painter quickly strokes a boat with his brush and disappears forever in the sea created by him.

The puppet show will be staged by Brigitte Revelli, a French choreographer, dancer and sculptor. Currently she is the director of a puppetry company based in Kerala. Apart from studying ballet and contemporary dance for more than ten years, she has studied yoga and Bharatanatayam.

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