Swiss puppeteer Anita Bertolami wants to reinvent theatre for children

BENGALURU: In an age where gadgets play centre stage, theatre practitioners from around the world are attempting to re-invent the space not only to grab childrens’ attention but also widen their imagination. One such is Anita Bertolami, a Swiss puppeteer and theatre performer, who is coming down for Ranga Shankara’s as part of the International Theatre Festival for Children.

Having performed extensively in Europe, Bertolami is bringing her production Carnival of Transfiguro, a show that involves elements of theatre and puppetry. “It is a non-verbal play that explores imagination. Objects come alive, characters appear out of different parts of the body and they let the audience partake in their stories, struggles and joy. The play is like a magnifying glass displaying life beyond the obvious and visible,” says Bertalomi.  

Inviting children audience to “experiment with the characters”, listen to stories of the objects, Bertolami hopes children can draw such parallels into their own lives from this play. “Puppetry, for me, is magic. The art brings alive an object or a perspective of a part of a body. People gladly let themselves be taken into another world even though they know how it is being done. I enjoy the purity of joy and the happiness in the eyes of children when I perform,” she says, adding that she believes puppetry not only caters to kids, but also adults who are glad to suspend themselves from reality for a while.

In her performances, Bertolami makes use of all parts of her body, an attempt she started off 13 years ago. “I started with the hands and searched for different ways of creating characters with them, using some very simple objects or heads. The puppets are a combination of my body and the objects,” she says.You can catch The Carnival of Transfiguro at Ranga Shankara on July 20.