Lessons from the great flood

In a first, puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee, composer Airat Ichmouratov and conductor Evgeny Bushkov collaborate to stage Neeta Premchand's books on the narrative

On a Friday afternoon, the peculiar quiet of a performance venue without its audience envelopes the National Centre for the Performing Arts. But that's often a sign of something brewing within its walls, which, when thrown open to the viewers promises to replace the silence with collective gasps. We almost let out one as we take our seat at the Experimental Theatre, where a rehearsal for When Land Becomes Water is underway.

A unique collaboration between renowned Delhi-based puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee and his Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, Canadian-Russian composer Airat Ichmouratov, and the Symphony Orchestra of India Chamber Orchestra, led by Evgeny Bushkov, the NCPA production is based on a set of books by Neeta Premchand. Often called the deckle queen of India, she tells the tale of the Flood as it exists in Indian, Mesopotamian and Biblical mythology through handmade paper illustrations. The theme that runs through the performance is that of the universality of the stories and how, despite the differences, human beings are united.

Dadi Pudumjee

We enter to the soothing sound of the duclar, a clarinet-like woodwind instrument that Ichmouratov is playing with two musicians on the sitar and tanpura. With actors on the stage depicting the story of Noah's ark with life-size puppets, masks and shadows against a massive backdrop with projections, Bushkov takes the music to a crescendo. The rehearsal to a recorded track with brainstorming sessions with Ichmouratov over Skype has been on for months, but the trio has come together for the first time this morning.

"We were worried because we had been rehearsing with a recorded track, and that with the live orchestra, it would sound different. But 99 per cent of it sounds exactly the same," a pleased Pudumjee, who last performed in Mumbai over eight years ago, tells us after the session.

Evgeny Bushkov

Bushkov, who will soon complete his term as SOI's resident conductor, explains how it all came together. "A year and a half ago, I was given the beautiful books of Neeta Premchand and asked if I thought the stories were appropriate to be put to music. I found them wonderful and so, I took the liberty to suggest that Airat write the incidental music to these books." When things got going, they joined forces with Pudumjee and the project started to take shape.

Ichmouratov, who met Pudumjee briefly last summer at Premchand's Bombay Paperie, shares, "We decided that it was very important that we use traditional instruments, which is why we have the sitar and tanpura that fit into the concept beautifully."

Airat Ichmouratov

The spectacle on the stage that the Ishara team creates defies the fixed notions of a puppet show. "People here think of puppetry as only string-held puppets on a small stage, but we tried to use the whole space, and employ puppets as a means, not an end in itself, to tell the story. What you see on the projection are all images from the books, with block printing done in Ahmedabad," says Pudumjee.

Though rooted in mythology, the stories, he adds, are relevant. The earth was submerged in water because it had become corrupt and filled with violence. "Today, you can think of it in terms of human greed and the environment."

At: Experimental Theatre, NCPA.
On: Today, 4 pm; March 24, 11 am
Call: 22824567
Entry: Rs 500

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