Objectifying theatre

A moment from Frames by La Baracca-Testoni Ragazzi

Take a quick tour around your home. Find ordinary objects - household items sitting out in plain sight, miniature trains and trinkets gathering dust. Touch and see; do they tell a story? The theatre of objects, as a discipline, toys with such untransformed things. It is a kind of art-making that scrutinises possibilities of an article in movement, sound and character. Thing-A-Magic, an upcoming international object theatre festival, curated by the Tram Arts Trust and CSMVS, brings us close to the potentials and promises of daily-use items. "Object and storytelling are key to our practice. As a museum, that's what we do in our galleries, through our displays. The form, although new, is practised by thespians all over the world," says Joyoti Roy, who heads marketing and strategy at CSMVS. Reminding us of the times, Roy further says they wanted to host this performative visual art as it renders itself well, digitally. The four-day long festival will involve plays, workshops and interactive sessions for children.

A still from Sannidhi Surop's Hunt

Theatre-makers often refer to object theatre as the youngest member of the family. Ask actor-director Choiti Ghosh about its deviation from puppetry and she explains, "Fundamentally, the language and founding principles of the former are influenced by puppet theatre. Both the media work with inanimate objects, but in object theatre, nothing is made for the act; you take what you have - a salt-shaker, a pen or a pair of shoes - and use them as symbols in your narrative. Unlike in puppetry, they are not brought to life." The founder of Tram Arts Trust clarifies that object theatre, on intention, will remind us of the dual reality of an object; a pen can be used as a character, but you will be reminded that the import is guided by your imagination and it's only a pen. "The inherent identity of the object is never taken away. It wakes us up to the realisation that an article exists in its own right and doesn't need to be anthropomorphised," she ends.

Sannidhi Surop, a theatre artiste in Bengaluru, is excited to present her play, Hunt. She made a slow passage from playback to object only last year and looks to it for inspired release. Hunt retells the story of Red Riding Hood from the viewpoint of the wolf. Although this branch of theatre is deemed contemporary in history and is more familiar with adult circles, Olka Hedayat feels, "Kids know the form by heart by the virtue of their instincts." A teacher and object theatre practitioner in Iran, Hedayat's workshop will help children experience ingenuity by exploring materials of daily use. She says, "Children act out life and its concepts in their pretend worlds, they are constantly using objects to make sense of the complexities around them. My main aim, as a facilitator, is to help them enjoy symbolic playing."

On November 25 to 28, 5 pm
Log on to tramarts.org
Cost Rs 200