Anurupa Roy talks about puppets and the taboo topics

If you, like us, loved the song, The Lonely Goatherd, from The Sound of Music, where Maria and her adorable wards put up a puppet show, then you will surely not want to miss this workshop. Puppeteer, Anurupa Roy, in collaboration with Extensions Arts, is in the city to conduct a workshop that focuses on a dialogue around the body and how Puppet narratives work. She will be using techniques from Bunraku, a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in 1684.

"The workshop's basic aim is to teach puppet technique. It's about learning anatomy and being informed about the human body," says Roy, who runs the Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust. Her shows have toured across Europe, Japan and South Asia and a major aspect of her work is using puppets for psycho-social interventions in conflict areas like Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Manipur to juvenile homes. She also raises issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS and gender. "I have raised those issues as I connect with those subjects. It's about the artist expressing their own specific beliefs." But she does feel that puppets have a license to say what they want. "When dealing with issues like AIDS, it's easier to talk about taboo subjects like sex through a puppet. An audience may be shocked, shy or inhibited, but a puppet has the license to say and do a lot of things a human can't."

Where: Future School of Performing Arts, 167 CST Road, Kalina
When: October 3 to 8, 6 pm
Entry: Rs 9,500
Call: 9820480583