Ilona Lehtoranta rolls her eyes; sways gently, moves her fingers and hands up and down holding imaginary puppets, nods, grimaces and then breaks into a smile. It’s a teaser, a small demo of her work with puppets. The Finnish puppeteer has been holding workshops for children in the city. The reach of puppeteering is deep, she says. Her puppets tell stories that first and foremost give joy and then hope. Like her paper puppets Hari and Aishwarya, who will reveal the power of inspiration through their love story tomorrow at Orthic Creative Centre. The stories they tell are mostly from her life. She likes to keep her productions simple and thus powerful. Ilona, a Masters in the Science of Education, was a school teacher for 10 years before she moved into full time theatre and puppeteering. “This was where I wished to be,” she says. She founded teatteri capelle, her puppet theatre in 2002.
The tradition of puppetry in Finland may be short but Europe has a rich history, she says explaining about puppet houses. Fascinated by its long history in India she closely watched the inherent art in Kerala – the pavakuthu (glove puppets) and thol pavakuthu (shadow puppetry using leather puppets) and will be incorporating these techniques into her art.
Two months ago when she arrived in Wayanad on an art residency programme, she was inspired by the colours of the land and the people. She began painting and also learning Vedic art propounded by Swede scholar Curt Kallman. Ilona’s puppets are made from different materials - wood, paper, recycled products - and tell insightful stories simply. According to her the medium is an effective means to convey ideas and thoughts to children. “Most of my shows are for children. I find it important to tell the stories to children live. Emotions come across stronger in live performances.”
Through her stories Ilona wishes to tell children that imagination is a powerful tool and that everything is possible. Earlier in her career she began with the most popular story of Pinocchio but soon moved over to conceptualising and creating her productions- script, music and stage setting.
In ‘Mother Earth’ she made puppets using clay; a giant who lived on ‘Waste Mountain’ was made from throwaway materials. In ‘Pandora’s Box’ she used string puppets. Ilona uses traditional marionettes sparingly finding them “to be too realistic,” keeping puppets and stories subtle.
So what does her story telling aim at? She is clear that the puppets must give joy and hope, instil courage at the end of a show, after they take the audience through drama and excitement.
When she returns to Finland Ilona will be working with puppets in a hospital with bed ridden children. There her puppets will give the children joy, hope and courage to recover.
‘Primavera’ ( vasanthakalam ) will be presented by Ilona at Nanappa Art Gallery on April 24 at 5 p.m . She is holding workshops for TAOS (The Arts Outreach Society)
