HYDERABAD: Working with puppets gives me a sense of personal joy,” shares German puppeteer Matthias Kuchta who only uses life-size puppets to express himself. In the city for an Indo-German puppet-music-theatre project, as a part of the 'Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities', he will conduct the puppet show ‘Sanjay and His Master’ to be staged today and tomorrow. Directed by Dadi Pudumjee and produced by Stephan V Lowis of Menar, KinderKinder, this puppet show has been created to to help children and others learn to appreciate Indian Classical music. Subroto Roy Chowdhury will be on the sitar, Anjan Saha on sitar/vocal and Swapan Bhattacharya on the tabla.Sanjay and His MasterAn adaptation of a classical Indian story, Sanjay and His Master is the story about a young boy, who leaves his house to make a living. He goes to Benaras and finds a guru to learn music. After trying to ape his master for years, Sanjay begins to aspire to do better than his guru. “The story is about Sanjay’s journey from childhood and stepping into maturity. Various factors in his life make him realise his own individuality,” explains Stephan V Lowis, producer of the show. He further adds, “I had conceptualised this show and staged it in Hamburg last year in October. It was well received. This is why we decided to do an Indian tour, wherein we have cover seven cities including Hyderabad.”Puppets are objects“The kind of puppets I use are life-size and I work behind them on the stage,” explains Kuchta, adding, “These puppets have joints, so that I can leave one puppet in a particular position while I am working with the other. It is like turning the pages of a book and the image stays like that.” Having spent 30 years with different puppets, ask him if he has developed a special bond with any and he quickly denies, saying, “For me puppets have always been objects,” opines Kuchta, saying, “But, they encourage me to do things I wouldn’t have been able to do without them.”Puppet vs ActorKuchta, a solo puppeteer, believes that a puppet gives the audience the freedom to understand the character better when compared to a stage actor. “A puppet always gives the audience the liberty and imagination to relate to the character a lot more. According to me, a puppet overcomes the limitations of an actor.”Sanjay and His Master will be staged at the NIFT auditorium today and tomorrow at 12 noon and 7 pm.
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