Saau is an interpretation of a Marathi children’s book ‘Andharacha Gaanv’ by Swati Raje and is based on events of Savitri Bai Phule’s life. Saau is the story of a little girl who strives to bring lost light and hope to her village that is troubled by a generational curse of darkness – it is a story of lost hope, bravery, and challenging norms – narrated with various sources of light, overhead projector, self-lit puppets, through Bunraku style puppets, and a non-verbal approach.

Director :

Avinash Kumar is a dancer, puppeteer, and choreographer. He has trained in a variety of dance forms – Chau, Contemporary, Jazz & Bollywood. He honed his puppeteering skills from Dadi Pudumjee and Anurupa Roy. He has performed extensively in India and overseas. He has also trained in Modern Contemporary Dance under the Guidance of Astad Deboo. Some of his performances include, Interpreting Tagore with Astad Deboo foundation and Bollywood Lovestory with Teamwork Arts. He has participated in the Out of the box festival( Singapore), Tojo Theatre Reishule (Switzerland) & Cerantino Dance Festival (Mexico). He is a recipient of the META Award for Best Choreography for Mahabharata in 2017, Best mover Award in the Polland Theatre Festival for Mahabharata in 2018. Rex Karamaveer Chakra (Gold) Award in 2019.

Director’s Note

Saau explores light as resistance. Drawing inspiration from Savitri Bai Phule’s legacy, the performance uses non-verbal storytelling, Bunraku-style puppetry, and multiple light sources to question inherited silences and accepted darkness. The work reflects on how small acts of courage can quietly disrupt deeply rooted norms.

Group :

The Katkatha Puppet Arts Trust is a Delhi based puppet theatre company which began in 1998. Since then creating a rigorous training system for puppeteers has been a key focus for the group. In absence of a puppet school or courses to train professional puppeteers in India, Katkatha conducts intensive short courses and workshops in puppet techniques, supports interns who learn by following the work of the company. The focus is to train the next generation of professional puppeteers, create a discourse around puppetry and also build a network of puppeteers.