Hatch on the Road: Sequins and Dirt

By Penelope Bartlau (Feb 2007)

“Hatch” is an all-ages puppet and movement based visual theatre show, developed by Penelope Bartlau and Jacob Boehme both recent graduates of Victorian College of the Arts Post-Graduate Diploma in Puppetry.

“Hatch” was invited by Dadi Pudumjee, Managing Trustee of the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, to perform at the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust International Puppet Festival in Delhi, along with two other arts festivals in the Indian cities, Chennai and Jaipur.We arrived a few days early in Delhi in order to be present at the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust International Puppet Festival launch. Jacob and I had had time to do a bit of shopping and dressed in traditional Indian outfits for the launch, which ignited substantial interest:At the launch we were interviewed by quite a lot of press and TV about “Hatch” and invariably our choice in clothing eventually came to be the topic of each interview. Interestingly, by-and-large the interviews we had throughout the tour, both pre-show promotional interviews and post-show reviews, were very specific in the line of questioning more so than interviews Jacob or I have experienced here in Australia.Interviewers sought a distinctive intellectual and philosophical explanation of our work, rather than an artistic angle often the case here. I thought this interesting in relation to what Indian audiences might be accustomed to expecting at the theatre, if the media is reflective of where the general interest of the public lies.But in the case of the interviews at the launch, this detailed line of inquiry seemed a bit ironic given that, ultimately, the interviews mostly wound up focussing on our choice of outfits. Thus began our introduction to the host of contradictions that India presents.

Chennai

We began our official tour in Chennai, Southern India, as part of the “Tree of Life” Festival. Chennai has a long history with traditional puppetry and dance but is a town without great exposure to contemporary art forms. One of the aims of “Tree of Life” Festival director Ranvir Shah was to change this by inviting contemporary artists from around the world to show at the festival.We were warned several times by festival organisers “not to expect too much” of our audiences as they could be resistant to new artistic forms. We had seen a show at the theatre in Delhi and a sophisticated theatre-literate crowd was in attendance. At this show in Delhi there was a lot of coming and going during this show, a bit of mobile phone action, and lots of chatting during the performance so we had had some introduction to the culture of audiences in India. We attended shows in other cities and generally this is the way audiences there do it: so we weren’t really sure what to expect in Chennai.

In Chennai, the recently re-vamped Museum Theatre is a relic from the British Empire: a big old proscenium arch, 350-seater. Our lighting plot was originally to have been completed by 1pm, leaving time for a technical rehearsal after lunch. But when we arrived the rig wasn’t up so we were wheeled off to lunch while the techs rigged.

We had hoped for a technical rehearsal after plotting and a dress rehearsal, but none of this was to be. Our show was scheduled for 6.30pm. A more-or-less lighting plot was completed by about 6pm. We were still finalising sound cues and answering publicity questions from festival organisers until about 6.10pm and then Jacob and I ran and hid in the men’s toilet/green room – our moment of peace only interrupted by the sound of Punjabi disco on a transistor radio that was echoing throughout the backstage area.The show went on at 6.30 as planned. Thankfully, and somewhat miraculously, the show went very well. We had a Q & A session afterwards, and the first ones to speak up were the kids. The children responded to “Hatch” exactly as Australian kids had done: they were absorbed by the magic and the illusion in the show. They asked questions about how did certain things appear or disappear, and spoke about the bits they liked.The questions from adults were about the art form itself, (ie. Object Theatre) and about the exact meaning of the play. In the South, the traditional forms of puppetry and dance mostly deal with subject matter from a religious context so the style of storytelling and the story itself confronted our adult audience, whereas the children were open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Ranvir Shah the Festival director was pleased with the performance and delighted to bring such contemporary work to audiences in Chennai.

Delhi

The following day we jumped on a plane back up to Delhi, where we bumped in our set to an amphitheatre at the “Habitat Centre”. Niti from Teamwork films, who had accompanied us to Chennai, had phoned ahead to make sure that the rig was up and the lights in place. This was a great space to work in a contemporary theatre where our audience was seated on raked benches, allowing us to have more direct interaction with the kids sitting at the front.The lighting and sound technician was a dream to work with and had a good feel for the show, keeping our job and his job simple. The show was a great success despite our main character breaking mid-performance. With some hasty muttering to each other, we incorporated the break into the logic of the story.Jai Hartnell, a Melbourne puppeteer currently based in Cambodia but holidaying in India, saw the show in Delhi and loved it. She had noticed the accident on stage but assured us that the audience had not! It was good to have an Aussie eye in the room! After this show we met several other puppeteers from other parts of India who had come to enjoy the Ishara Festival. It was a fantastic opportunity to swap puppetry tales and to learn about what these artists are doing and what they’re inspired by. We made lots of contacts for our next trip!

Jaipur

The day following we hopped into a big four-wheel-drive and with our set tied to the roof rack made the 6-hour trek to Jaipur. Jaipur, known as the “Pink City”, was hosting the “Jaipur Heritage International Festival”. With an emphasis on literary events, there were many other things to get involved in, ranging from workshops to dance recitals to visual arts exhibitions. Australia was the focus country this year for the festival. “Dislocate”, an Australian physical theatre group, were performing at the festival as well.We were scheduled to perform two shows back-to-back. Like Chennai, the Jaipur theatre was a big proscenium arch, 350-seater. The lighting plot took forever and we barely had time to put our set together before the first show. We had an interloper back stage as well.Our lunch was waiting on a table beside the stage and a rat the size of a rabbit ambled over the electrical cords in the wings, headed up to the table and made off with our cheese sandwich. It scurried with sandwich into the wings and sat ready and waiting for “lunch and a show”. We had to be prepared for anything it could have turned up on stage mid-performance and this was the show that the Australian High Commissioner was attending. Hint: when performing in India, don’t have lunch.Again, thankfully the show went well and we weren’t upstaged by a rat. The turn-around time for our second show was short. We reset, and were heading out for a breath of fresh air, when the security guard, with a nice big firearm slung around his hip, decided it might be fun to have a look through all the things in our set. Jacob and I had to request and then insist as gently as one can when faced with a man with a big gun that he not touch our pre-set. He eventually got the hint and went off to pull someone else’s pre-set apart.I guarded the stage, Jacob had a cigarette, and then we were on again for our final performance in India. We had a ball! Again the show was very well received, and Claudia Hyles, the Australian co-ordinator responsible for our invitation to Jaipur was rapt.

After this final show, Jacob and I took great pleasure in dumping our wonderful recyclable set that Visy Specialities Australia had provided for us and giving away all the little objects that formed most of the show’s puppets and props. We caught up with Niti at the Festival Club later the beautiful Digi Palace and from her bag a cat meowed and a fish emerged: her souvenirs from “Hatch”.Niti and Rahul from Teamwork Films, Dadi Pudumjee and Sanjoy Roy from the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust, Ranvir Shah from the “Tree of Life” Festival and Claudia Hyles at the Jaipur Heritage Festival all treated us so well and made the touring experience in India smooth.Neither Jacob nor I had been to India before and these production teams cushioned the blow of total culture shock. India is as beautiful and illusive as the ever-present sparkle of sequins, and as gritty and confronting as the spilling humanity and continual dirt. Jacob and I would go there again in a flash and have commenced planning for Indian/Australian co-productions in puppetry. We met some amazing artists and made contacts with Indian and international producers. Playing for an international audience has fed us with fresh ideas and provided us with inspiration and motivation for national and international touring in the future.

The Indian tour was financed by contributions from the DFAT/Australia Council Australian International Cultural Council’s Indian initiative, Friends of the VCA, Visy Specialities and a UNIMA Australia Travel Grant. There are further plans to tour “Hatch” internationally in 2007 & 2008