It was a sell out event that allowed people to reconnect with Puppet Place and to hear Anurupa Roy speak about Katkatha Puppets Art Trust and their recent shows and projects in India, as well as their work in conflict zones with children and adolescents on mental health issues.  She also told us about the Clore Fellowship that she has recently been awarded.

For more information about future Creative Cafes contact Sally Reay on info@puppetplace.org

Anurupa Roy is a puppeteer, puppet designer and director of Katkatha. Anurupa Roy’s views puppetry as not just “manipulating dolls with strings” but an amalgam of plastic and performing arts where sculptures, masks, figures, materials, found objects and narratives that come together with music, movement, physicality and theater to create the theater where humans and puppets are co actors. She started Katkatha in 1998, and has directed over 15 shows for children and adults ranging from the Ramayana and Mahabharata to Shakespearean comedy to the Humayun-nama. The puppets used by the group range from three inches to forty feet. The shows have toured across Europe, Japan and South Asia. A major aspect of her work is using puppets for psycho social interventions in conflict areas like Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Manipur to Juvenile Remand homes. She has worked with youth and women across the country using puppets to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and gender issues. She is a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar in Puppetry (2006) and more recently she has been a visiting faculty at the University of California Los Angeles as Artists in Residence at Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council.

Katkatha Puppets Art Trust is a travelling puppet theatre company which frequents international and Indian puppet, performing arts and theatre festivals.  The company also focuses on collaborative processes and projects with other artists, communities, school teachers and children. These explorations have taken them to conflict zones like Kashmir, Manipur and Sri Lanka, to Juvenile Remand homes in Delhi, to Women’s self help groups across villages in Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Kashmir and to schools across India. Puppets have helped them connect to people of all walks of life to tell them stories and hear their stories. They have done shows across urban slums in India, trained community health workers, village school teachers, youth leaders to use puppets to talk about taboo issues like reproductive health and sexuality, the stigma around HIV/AIDS, gender discrimination and violence.

All courses and workshops take place at Unit 18 Albion Dockside Estate, Hanover Place, Bristol BS1 6UT unless otherwise stated.