I enjoyed Anurupa Roy's puppetry workshop at Seagull even though I could attend only one day.
We learnt about the different kinds of puppetry, such as the ones she used at her show the day before- shadow, cutouts, figures etc. Puppetry called ravanchitra is popular in South india. It is named after Ravan as Ram being divine, doesn't have a shadow! We collected objects from the roadside to see what they would look like when a overhead projector would be used to project them on screen. I picked up a chakri- a leftover firecracker from Diwali. It worked well as a snail when projected. We then composed small stories under a minute using the objects we had found, in groups of 5. A tattered cloth looked beautiful on the screen. So did flowers, water in a transparent bottle, a hairclip. It was fun to imagine, be children again. We then attempted to make puppets from transparencies, cardboard and paper. We had wire and thumbtacks to create joints for our puppets. We were given three stories to stage. First we had to create a visual storyboard. This let us know at a glance what props were required for a scene. The next day we were to introduce colour using cellophane. Sigh. I wish I could have attended the second day too. Ah well, at least I got a glimpse in another world.

I quite liked Anurupa Roy's Anecdotes and Allegories. Puppets were the stars in this production. Babar, Humayun and Akbar's histories were told. Tiny puppets in doll houses were projected on a screen for Babar's story. Humayun's story was told with shadows and Akbar's with cutouts. I did feel that the accented voiceover if in Hindi instead of English, would have matched better with the material. Also, the few parts of the play which were in dialogue stood out. More such parts would have strengthened the subaltern perspective. All in all, a very different play which was worth attending.

Miss Daisy drives herself

Learning how to drive is enjoyable. From first gear to second gear, to reverse gear today, it gives one a feeling of immense power to be able to handle an object bigger and heavier than oneself. To actually move, be able to direct where one is going with a deft flick of the steering wheel…ah what comfort.

Unit Asia's jazz concert was enjoyable. Lighting was used to mirror the change in musical tempo. A Thai, a Malay and Japanese came together to create lilting music.

Liked All About Women best at Airtel's Lifestage theatre festival. Evam's 5 point someone adhered too faithfully to the book. Project S.T.R.I.P. was too like a skit on environmental issues to be enjoyable. Gentlemen was too risque. God- I didn't like the script much. The Leela Tapes did not vary pace.

Melange 2010

I quite enjoyed Melange 2010, which saw six musicians- Nishat Khan on sitar, Trilok Gurtu on percussion, Larry Coryell on guitar, Lily Haydon on violin, Frank Martin on keyboard, Itai Disreali on bass guitar.
Nishat Khan served as the focal point as he was centre stage. As the distinctive India instument player too, he stood out.
Trilok Gurtu used South American instruments among others to conjure up sounds of a storm.
Lily Haydon managed to make the violin sound more angry than mournful.
I liked the fact that the musicians got sounds out of their instruments which I had not heard from these instruments earlier.