Object of the matter

A still from Buddy by Kapil Dev

Like most other professions, the pandemic has been tough on the artiste community. Tram Arts Trust, an object theatre company, along with Harkat Labs (a film lab), came together to help the community through micro-grants. They were joined in their efforts by Think Arts, which was established to promote the arts among children and young adults. This collaboration has spawned three plays to support artistes.

The first play, Moon's Magic, has been written and directed by Tandra Kundu, and is about the disappearing and appearing moon. It explores how this phenomenon is new to a little girl, who lives with her grandmother. When the little girl is frightened about a lunar eclipse, her grandmother calms her with the promise of the moon's return. Another play named Buddy, scripted and directed by Kapil Dev, is about an old man who takes walks in a park, and how he encounters a stray pup who he found slightly annoying at first, but then starts to miss when it goes missing. The story encapsulates the separation and reunion of the old man and the pup. The third puppet play will release in December 2021.

A still from Moon's Magic by Tandra Kundu

Choiti Ghosh, object theatre specialist and secretary at Tram Arts, shares, "We were aware that we [the theatre community] would be the last to open, and hence we came together to support each other. It's been remarkable how the artist community has stood together in tough times. It was important to not only offer financial help but to also a platform to be creative. While there were challenges, object theatre lends itself well to the digital medium since it has a very rectangular template, and one can scale worlds down to that space," explains Ghosh, adding that pre and post show interactions that were missing will also return.

Karan Talwar, filmmaker and curator, Harkat Studios, adds, "The plays are appealing and heartfelt. Mentoring the artistes was important for the transition from physical to the digital medium."

On: September 25, 26
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 150 for each play