PNCA starts travelling puppet shows

ISLAMABAD: The National Puppet Theatre of Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) has started its travelling puppet shows in different parts of the country.

The programme aiming to provide education with entertainment to children in various cities started from Abbotabad, Mansehra, Kaghan and Naran while the shows will continue till June 28.

These shows will held in various schools while the team had also visited various cities during last month.

The puppeteers will entertain the children with education and awareness on various issues including health, environment and social values.

According to the organizers, puppet show is a skill which guides the students about various social problems with informative visuals in form of stories, songs, dances and tableaux as movement of puppets in colourful costumes leave a healthy message in their minds.

A Puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by a puppeteer to show plays or presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre.

The National Puppet Theatre has got masterly skills of presenting puppet shows which is regularly promoting this art among the children across the country.

Considering these shows as 'Children Theatre', it entertains with different varieties of puppets that are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use.

The puppets stand on a stage divided into an unlit background and a well lit foreground, meeting to form a "curtain" of light. The puppeteer dresses in black and remains hidden in the unlit background of the stage while the puppet is held across the light curtain in the lit foreground of the stage.

The organizers term the programme as a way of introducing children of remote areas with quality entertainment and educating them through healthy and full of fun activities.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011