The sisters have defined roles to toe. Fahime is the writer-director-manager, Sima's are the skilled hands that mould puppets — she is their puppeteer. Saeida plays the traditional tar, an actress and puppeteer. Samane pulls at the heart strings as she plays the kamanche and tombak — conventional musical instruments. She is an actress and a puppet maker too. Together, the four Iranian sisters create a spectacle with puppets on stage.
The Mirzahoseini sisters make Apple Tree Group dedicated to puppetry, and they have taken their quintessential puppet beings to large parts of the globe. They are now on their maiden trip to India as part of The Ishara International Puppet Festival. After showcasing “The Bald Hero” (“Pahlevan Kachal”), a traditional tale with glove puppets, in Mumbai on Thursday, they bring their tale to Delhi over this weekend.
In a telephonic interview from Mumbai, Fahime, the eldest of the four sisters and the director of “The Bald Hero”, talks about the Indian threads in the story. “In my story there are two Indian characters, the King from India — Sultan Salim Khan and his beautiful daughter,” she says in her halting English. The abduction of this beautiful daughter of the Sultan is the take-off point of the show.
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The tale, an Iranian folklore, says Fahime, is aged between 300 and 400 years. “Then these kind of stories were forgotten,” she adds, dusting off time from this old lore and making it deemed for today. By taking up “The Bald Hero” the sisters have given it a hitherto unseen character. “Every time ‘The Bald Hero' was performed, it was with just men,” Fahime talks about the show with women performers.
“The story ends with the wedding of the bald hero and the daughter of the Indian king,” she hints at the strong cultural bonds between India and Iran dating back centuries. For Fahime and her sisters, India may be a new experience, but they have already taken “The Bald Hero” to Poland, Belarus, Ireland, Turkey, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia among others.
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Apart from “The Bald Hero”, the sisters have brought six stories to the stage. Their journey began when the four of them gravitated towards puppetry. They might have pursued different interests, but puppetry was their destination. If Fahime went in for Fine Arts, Sima studied puppetry, Saeida learnt Iranian instruments and Samane was a student of a sculpture. However, puppetry touched a chord with all and their diverse talents were an embellishment. Apple Tree Group took birth about nine years ago. Though the present show involves hand puppets, Fahime says they dabble in different styles. “We work with shadow and rod puppets too, and with myths and old tales.”
“I can find myself in puppetry,” says Fahime.
Iranians are steadfastly warming up to puppetry of late, she says. “Recently, some groups have come up with puppet shows for children. The situation is better than before. We have a professional puppet festival now.”
Interestingly, Fahime says, puppetry is popular among Iranian women and many have links with the art form. “Every woman, everywhere in the world, is a woman and a mother and likes to play with children. May be this is the reason, a lot of women are part of puppet shows.”
Direction: Fahime Mirzahoseini
Apple Tree Group, Iran