PA/54/12 Australia’s leading giant puppet theatre to perform

PA/54/12                                                     7 December 2012

Australia’s leading giant puppet theatre to perform

Transcending language barriers and connecting with diverse audiences, Australia’s leading giant puppet experimental theatre company, Snuff Puppets, is coming to India to present Nukkad Item: a People’s Puppet Project with young adults from Dharavi in Mumbai.

Presented as part of Oz Fest, Nukkad Item is produced by Divya Bhatia in collaboration with SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action) and supported by the Australia International Cultural Council (AICC), the Australia-India Council and the Maharashtra Nature Park.

“This is one show where there will be no language barrier. These giant, dancing puppets and the explosive way in which they are brought to life will be visually spectacular,” said Dr Lachlan Strahan, Australia’s Acting High Commissioner to India.

The performance is being developed through a workshop conducted by Snuff Puppets, where young people will devise the narrative and design, build and manipulate their own puppets. The two-week workshop will produce a short season of giant puppet performances, part parade and part street theatre, to be presented at NCPA Centrestage Theatre Festival and Mood Indigo Festival at IIT, Mumbai.

Snuff Puppets’ work combines elements of puppetry, live music, visual and physical theatre to create art that is accessible and challenging, visually spectacular and politically incisive.

Snuff Puppets is Australia’s leading giant puppet experimental theatre company. Founded in 1992, the company has established an international reputation for producing idiosyncratic performance that is simultaneously intimate and a wild unleashing of grand spectacle.

Divya Bhatia is an independent producer and artistic director based in Mumbai, with many years of work in theatre and music in India and overseas. He has curated the project.

SNEHA is an NGO based in Dharavi in Mumbai focusing on women’s health – physical and mental.

Oz Fest is the biggest Australian cultural festival ever staged in India. The Australian Government is working with 24 government, business, institutional and production partners to present over 100 events in 18 locations across India between October and February 2013. Oz Fest is the Australia International Cultural Council’s focus country program for 2012.

For more information on Oz Fest visit: www.ozfestindia.com, www.facebook.com/ozfestinindia or follow us on twitter @OzFestIndia.