KARACHI: The historical and cultural importance of string puppetry as a means of narration and entertainment cannot be stressed enough. In a time before man even considered enacting onstage in front of an audience, string puppetry has delighted audiences. It has been said to have originated in as early as 2000 BC Egypt, practised in Ancient Greece where it was also known as marionettes and became a rage in Rajashtan in India, where it was known as the kathputli. And so, with the promise to take us back centuries, Thespianz Theatre, in collaboration with the PACC, hosted a puppet theatre that brought to an eager audience beloved folk tales from Sindh and Punjab.

However, despite the many selling points of the collaboration, with the added feature of targeting children, a demographic rampantly ignored in most cultural collaborations, the event could almost have been labelled a disaster.

Thankfully, the storytelling salvaged the night and of course the commendable performances by the puppeteers. Bad management, over-enthusiastic photographers, more than a dozen by my count in the PACC’s auditorium, who indulged in flash photography in the midst of the show, threatening to spoil the enjoyment of many. This was an unexpected intrusion, considering that many of PACC’s events are smooth sailing, without cameras being shoved into one’s face.

Moving on to the show itself, string puppetry, with its colourful backdrops and vibrant costumes, is the perfect medium to narrate folk tales. The folk tale Umar Marvi, among the various tragic romances from Sindh, set the tone of the show by narrating the story of Marvi, whose beauty has become a legend in her surrounding villages. Immortalising her tumultuous love for the young Khit, the performance tied their relationship with the backdrop of the deserts of Sindh. Fate brings them together, and fate tears them apart. And the desolation they feel at the loss of their beloved was represented also through Sindhi folk songs that are laments to their lost love. Towards the end, the characters indulge in the whirling dervish dance which is impeccably performed, considering that the strings used to manipulate the puppets can easily get tangled. Umar Marvi’s tale has been immortalised in the poetry of Shah Latif and to see these multiple mediums of storytelling, poetry, music and string puppetry come together was surreal.

Director Faisal Malik, who has enjoyed a promising career in the performing arts industry, then introduced the next tale that took the audience through the plains of Punjab to Jhang, the town that gave us the legendary love story of Heer and Ranjha, immortalised by another saint-poet, Waris Shah.

Many classic and contemporary love songs were used to convey the passion and love between the two main characters. Some of the props used in the story were unfortunately not up to mark and needed some work.

However, the audience must be commended for being very appreciative of this art form, despite a lack of knowledge behind its mechanics. Such encouragement can easily pave the way for more such performances to be held with more attention paid to intricacies of the theatrical rendition that has the potential to attract a large audience.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2014