బొమ్మలాట set to enthral audience again

Stage play throws light on plight of puppetry artistes; to be staged at Kalabharati today

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The only Telugu play staged at the National Theatre Festival in Delhi since 1988

Prior to బొమ్మలాట (Bommalata), Satyanand has the distinction of staging అడవి దీవితీలు (Adavi Diviteelu) for 55 days without a break

THEY ARE REAL: Satyanand and Sarika, the lead pair of `Bommalata', rehearsing in Visakhapatnam on Monday

VISAKHAPATNAM: A string puppet show, which Satyanand saw in his childhood, has resulted in the creation of his masterpiece `Bommalata'. The play which is the only Telugu one staged at the National Theatre Festival in Delhi since 1988, has created several records.

It was the only stage play which successfully ran for 102 days continuously in Visakhapatnam during 1992. The highlight was that the audience bought tickets and watched the shows.

The `Bommalata' troupe was rehearsing at the Satyanand Film Training Institute, when this paper caught up with them on Monday.

"It is an attempt to prove the power of performing arts to bring about a change in society. It reflects dismal state of affairs of puppetry artistes and suggests a change in their outlook to gain patronage of the public.

The need to retain such art forms for the benefit of posterity is another highlight of the play," says Satyanand who is the writer and director besides plays an important character in `Bommalata.'

Central characters

Though the play has completed over 250 runs since it was first staged in 1988, the central characters `Ketigadu', `Bangarakka' and `Alla Tappayya' remain unchanged. All other characters have kept changing but the central characters couldn't be changed as there were no substitutes.

"I met nine puppet groups in different parts of the State and interacted with them and recorded their performances to know more about their dialogue delivery, use of musical instruments and songs," says Satyanand.

Prior to `Bommalata', Satyanand had the distinction of staging `Adavi Diviteelu' for 55 days without a break. "The audience had high expectations about my next play. They were paying for the shows and it was but natural for them to expect wholesome entertainment. I took ample time and worked on the experiment," he recalled.

No mean feat

It is not easy for humans to act like puppets but Satyanand took up the challenge and trained an entire team and the result was there for everyone to see.

In these days when many films celebrate silver and golden jubilee, it is no mean achievement that a stage show could complete 100 days with good patronage till the end. It was last staged in Bhubaneswar in 2002.

Those who have missed it can enjoy the play at Kalabharati auditorium on Tuesday.

Courtesy: The Hindu