Anurupa Roy is a Puppeteer and the Managing Trustee & Artistic Director at Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust. She holds a B.A (Hons) degree & M.A in History. She is a visiting faculty at the University of California Los Angeles and Artists in Residence at Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council. She uses puppetry to raise awareness about various issues like HIV/AIDS, gender related disparity, conflict areas, etc.
Anurupa thinks that the key element in their work as puppeteers is Friendship. When there are many people thinking together, friendship becomes an important element of an efficient working environment.
Puppets have an incredible ability to move people because essentially people are just projecting on to the puppet.
The puppet theatre community has been struggling during the pandemic. The farmers who do puppeteering seasonally have been having a tough time, but not as much as those who have taken it up as a sole livelihood. When there was a food shortage during the first lockdown of the pandemic, the community came together to help provide food to those puppeteers who needed it. She says that this was mainly because they acknowledged that they could disappear as an art form at any point. Friendship and collaboration is the key.
Take a look at a small part of theatre, her work with puppets and people and the story of struggles and unity during trying times #BehindtheSeen.