Rumiyana brings to life the works of the great mystic Sufi poet and philosopher Mevlana Rumi. Using puppetry, dance, animations, music, and projections; it is a celebration of humanity’s diversity. A knock to the door by a student, begins a series of incredible life changing journeys and adventures; full of wonder, beauty, love, peace, and amazement. It is the timeless fable of a caged bird, which realises the spirit of freedom. It is a saga of dreams and the secret of following your dreams. An attempt to retell the story of Jalaluddin Rumi, the famous Persian poet and his Mystical Master/Teacher Shams of Tabrez, in a Unique Puppet theatre and animated avatar. Their search for each other, their meeting and the conversations, stories and poems that followed.
Director
Dadi D. Pudumjee is one of India’s creative modern puppet artist and director. He trained in puppetry under Meher R. Contractor at the Darpana Academy of Performing arts, Ahmedabad, and Michael Meschke at Marionette Theatre Institute Stockholm, Sweden. He attended a training workshop in Bunraku puppetry/manipulation under the guidance of Master puppeteer Sennouske Yoshida. He is an alumnus of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. He served as the President of UNIMA, Union International De La Marionnette, the world puppet organisation from 2008 to 2021, and presently is its Honorary President. He was the director and founder of the Sutradhar Puppet theatre repertory SRC, 1980-86, and presently is the founder and artistic director of The Ishara Puppet Theatre. He has been conferred with prestigious awards like the Padma Shri (2011), Sangeet Natak Akademi award (1993), to name a few.
Director’s Note
The Ishara Puppet Theatre, founded in 1986, was registered as The Ishara Puppet theatre trust in 2021. Ishara has conducted workshops for students, youngsters, and teachers. Rumiyana a collaborative performance between Shaaz Ahmed well known animator from NID, who wrote the script and created the digital videos, Sandeep Pillai from NID, musician and composer of the music track for this performance and Dadi Pudumjee, come together creating one of Ishara’s major performance .The methodology is to use animation, projection technology and innovation with puppetry to make the storytelling world of Puppet theatre a more contemporary and mesmerising medium, without losing its essence and base. The objectivity of the form can possibly say more than the actors in a theatre, but when the two crafts meet, some magic is sure to be created – in this case actor/dancers, puppets, visual imagery, animation and shadow techniques, The essence of Ishara’s & Dadi’s style.