Puppeteer Anurupa Roy’s new play is inspired by the migrants’ exodus

There was a huge food crisis amid the puppetry community when the lockdown had happened. And so, we started an online puppetry festival to raise money for the folk and traditional artistes who survive on their daily earnings. Around the same time, I also made a small film, titled The Girl in the Pink Frock, using puppets made from paper and old cardboard boxes. This project came about after watching thousands of migrant workers walking to their villages every day. As an artiste, this was a big turning point in my life,” says

Anurupa Roy

, award-winning puppeteer and founder of Delhi-based

Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust

, who is bringing another lockdown production, '

Teelapur Ka Rakshas

' to the

Ranga Shankara

theatre festival this year.
Written by Aditi Mediratta, the film 'The Girl in the Pink Frock' narrates the story of a little girl from a migrant worker’s family, who thinks that they all are walking home to catch a bat. So, while everyone else is in black and white, she wears her best dress for this walk. “The movie was well-received, with people from across the world watching the film. This experience also made us realise the reach that the digital medium can facilitate, and encouraged us to venture into another paper theatre production called 'Teelapur Ka Rakshas'. A co-production with Germany’s Helios Theater, this performance is a bit of a David and Goliath story. Essentially a children’s play, this is the story of a rakshas, who attacks people’s homes at night and forces them to migrate. Those who remained are forced to keep their doors, windows and lights shut after sundown. But there’s a little girl who still reads at night in candle light. The narrative throws light on how children respond in a crisis situation and the questions they ask,” says Anurupa, adding, “Here again, we are using paper as the medium, because it’s a metaphor for both fragility and strength.”
Meanwhile, she intends to further collaborate with

Gunduraju

, a seventh-generation puppeteer from Hoovinahalli in Karnataka’s Hassan district. Anurupa had previously worked with the 'Togalu Gombeyatta' practitioner for a puppet show on the 'Mahabharata'. In 2019, she had also teamed up with Bengaluru-based

Sandbox Collective

for '1..2..Tree', a puppet show that premised on a dystopian world, where trees are extinct and people wear oxygen masks to breathe.