Many children with their parents enjoyed puppet shows presented by internationally acclaimed puppeteer artist Mustafa Monwar on Friday at the National Music and Dance Centre of
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
The moral teachings delivered through the artistically rich traditional puppet show performances gave different types of amusement to many of these children who are habituated watching cartoons on satellite channels, which sometimes teach immoral activities.
Four puppet shows titled ‘Shar Ar Kopi’, ‘Lichu Chor’, ‘Sadher Lau’ and ‘Agachha’ were staged by Monwar’s troupe Multimedia Puppet Theatre in the evening.
It was the opening day presentation of the two-day puppet theatre festival organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy as part of its yearlong programme of promoting the traditional art of the country.
The puppeteers made the puppets act, fight and dance like actors on a podium synchronised with orchestra and music while narrating the simple stories very much suitable for the children to teach them about their tradition, history and social responsibilities.
‘Sadher Lau’ featured all the popular puppet characters created by Monwar like Bagha, Mini and Baul to satire popular pop culture practiced by the urban people forgetting being alienated from the root.
The story of ‘Lichu Chor’ featured two friends who were caught while stealing, and punished by the guard. It teaches that stealing is a bad practice.
Narrating a story between a peasant and an ox, ‘Saar Ar kopi’ teaches the importance of eating vegetables to be physically strong.
The last show ‘Agachha’ was based on the war of independence in 1971. The puppet theatre compared the Pakistani army and their local collaborators with garbage.
Mim, an excited five year old child, came to show with her mother. Her mother Nahar said, ‘Those performances can be an alternative to animated cartoons aired on the foreign channels, the only source of child entertainment.’
‘Such programmes should be organised regularly,’
she said.
-With New Age input
