Shadow Puppet Assembly

The grade 3 students investigated an art form of Andhra Pradesh called Thollu bommalata. They learned that Thollu bommalata is a Telugu expression which translates as “the dance of puppets”. Thollu means skin and bommalata means puppet dance.

These life size puppets are translucent as they are made of thin leather. This art form is a unique combination of the craft of making the puppets and the performing art of puppetry. As the students inquired into the art form further, they decided not only to create their own puppets but to perform a puppet show.  

The students divided themselves in groups, selected stories and some of them even wrote their own stories for the puppet show. The process started with writing scripts, identifying characters and making the puppets. The students rehearsed the dialogues with their puppet movements and learnt their lines with expression and voice modulation to present an entertaining shadow puppet show in front of the Junior School students and teachers.