Members of Dolls Theatre and Masti Makers. Picture by Arnab Mondal

A pair of fish trying to save themselves from an angler, a greedy man who’s on a tree-cutting spree even as the trees keep multiplying on their own, two birds sitting on a tabla set and creating rhythm, a crane couple dancing — images that speak a universal language, the language of nature. When Sudip Gupta of Dolls Theatre, a Calcutta-based puppet group, received an invitation to Harmony World Puppet Carnival in Bangkok, he chose a “non-verbal production” to cut across language barriers.

Taming of the Wild, one of the group’s earliest creations and the story of man’s relationship with nature, won Dolls Theatre much appreciation with its well-crafted performance and its junior-most member — Sudip’s six-year-old son, Souparna — the Youngest Puppeteer award.

The Class I student of St. Lawrence High School put up his own shadow puppetry act, Meeting with Nature, depicting the various elements of nature. “I love puppets,” exclaimed Souparna, who is so crazy about puppets that he insisted on accompanying his parents to the carnival even though his exams were approaching. “The puppets from Iran and Brazil were my favourites,” he added.

Encouraged by the response to his act, Souparna now dreams of doing a solo act in the next festival Dolls Theatre takes part in. When his name was announced during the awards ceremony, the boy ran all the way up to the stage and did a Bengali-style namaskar.

This may have been the young puppeteer’s first international appearance but not the group’s. For Sudip, however, “every time is a new experience”. “So many people, so many puppets. What an ambience!” said the brain behind the script, design and direction of Taming of the Wild.

Dolls Theatre was also nominated for the best puppet design award. “Awards are not that important, it is the global exposure that matters. The other groups came up to us and discussed our performance. The judges, too, enjoyed our show. The group from Iran expressed a desire to come to India and conduct workshops and invited us to do the same. We stayed with all the groups at the same hotel and interacted with them,” said Sudip.

The second group from India showcasing its puppets in Bangkok was Masti Makers from Pali Marwar, Rajasthan, who won the Best Street Show award and a cash prize of 3,000 US dollars. They are a group of human puppets who dance to Bollywood numbers, painting their bodies in such a way that their bellies resemble human faces. “We have a superb team and feel quite excited to be a part of the carnival. The international crowd loves Bollywood and they really enjoy our shows. This time we also put up a UV act,” said Jeetendra Adwani, the director of the 14-member group. The opening ceremony of the carnival featured an act by Masti Makers — a tribute to Ganesha, where they danced to popular Bollywood numbers such as Deva Shree Ganesha and Bappa Morya from ABCD.

Despite a few technical glitches — the support staff at Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre in Bangkok spoke only Thai and the troupe found it difficult to explain its requirements — Dolls Theatre managed to impress the judges with its improvised rod puppets.

“I loved the movements of the puppets and the way they were manoeuvered. The content and social message too were brilliant. I wish they hadn’t faced a technical glitch with the sound. Apart from that it was flawless,” said Alejandra Caballero, actress and puppeteer from South America and one of the jury members.

Jerry Bickel, writer and puppet director from North America and jury member, too, loved the performance. “It was gripping. I loved how the puppets moved. The content and the concept were superb.”

Gurpreet Kaur Sethi, artistic director and owner of RGV Events and Consultancy, who worked hard to take the teams to Thailand, was elated with the impact. “It was my dream to get them here and it feels proud to see so many renowned puppeteers applaud our teams.” she said.

Sudip himself was excited by the different concepts, unlimited forms of puppetry and frequent use of acting by European groups. “It is wonderful to see such performances. The way they balance puppetry with acting and that too with a maximum of three members is fascinating to watch.” He also enjoyed the performances by Ireland and Vietnam.

The city-based puppeteer and his group are now working on a new production based on Satyajit Ray’s Sujon Harbola. “March 21 is World Puppet Day. Last year, we had organised a festival in Calcutta around that time. Next year, too, we plan to do something,” said Sudip.

Though puppets took up most of their time in Bangkok — and that’s just the way the Guptas like it — they did manage to visit the Ocean World in Siam Paragon, and Grand Palace and, of course, sample some Thai food.

The carnival began with a street parade that turned out to be a mosaic of colours and a mix of diverse cultures. Puppets of different shapes and sizes interacted with onlookers on the streets of Bangkok as the procession proceeded to Sanam Luang, the venue for the opening ceremony.