LEO'S SEARCH FOR HOME IS TREACHOUS BUT BEAUTIFUL PUPPETRY

European Union’s Delegation to Kenya gave a marvelous gift to Nairobi school children when they sponsored Aperture Africa’s production of ‘Leo’s Search for a new Home’ at the Jain Bhavan auditorium in Loresho. The musical puppet show was based on a children’s book transformed into a play by its Polish author, Maciej Ochalik who also wrote the lyrics to the show. But the talent who provided all the other elements which made this children’s show so very special was its director Kasia Meszaros (who recently directed her own musical production, “The Good, Bad, and the Wolf”). Kasia again brought Andrew Tumbo into the mix, providing the musical composition and direction to this topical show which aimed to take on issues of environmental conservation and sustainable systems.

Kasia also brought the innovative choreographer Joanna Priwieziencew who understood that it wasn’t only human dancers who had to be choreographer. So did the puppets which were all designed by another one of Kasia’s colleagues, Martyna Dworakowska, but then they were constructed by the brilliant Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre. Martyna’s job wasn’t just dealing with dancers and puppets. She was also charged with designing the props, sets, and costumes, all of which had to be choreographed as when the long streams of nylon had to be moved in time to look oceanic and often turbulent, like the water the poor little tortoise swam through as he made his journey to find a new home. The story is simply stated in its title. This little tortoise is essentially an orphan, although we don’t get the backstory on that. But as he’s so young, he apparently doesn’t have his own shell, which is a sufficient home for most tortoises. Tirath Padam is wonderful as the free-spirited Leo as he sings and dances non-stop throughout the stage and occasionally through the whole auditorium. He and others in the show are eager to interact with the children who are frequently called to come up and take part in some aspect of the moment. This is one of the most interactive plays that I have seen this year, and it kept the children on their toes during the noon performance as many hoped to get up on the stage, even into the areas where there were heaps of plastics piled to convey the gravity of the problem that the underwater world is facing right now.

The tortoise has to learn early on that life in the ocean is not a very safe place. But it’s not just the sharks, eels, and jellyfish that can be dangerous. It is also the plastics that get dumped in the seas daily by human beings. They pollute the waters with life-threatening trash that birds as well as fish of all kinds feed on, thinking that it’s food not poison that they are consuming. Or they can get so entangled by the plastics that they can be stranded, even strangled right then and there. Leo encounters nearly all of these scenarios. After the formerly killer shark (Andre Tumbo) retires from the job, a new, long-nosed breed of shark appears in the ocean. Fortunately, he’s a doctor who finds Leo having terrible tummy problems. The Doctor uses his nose like a laser light to identify the plastic stone in Leo’s tummy and getting it removed. How miraculous is that!

Bu then Leo gets entangled in plastic sheeting in a place where he is not seen by his new friends. His plight is what happens to many fish and fowl, all of whom are unsuspecting of the islands of plastics out there that seem to be taking over the planet’s oceans. Fortunately, he is found by a man and his child. His life is saved in the process, and shortly thereafter, he finds his new home. What is beautiful about this musical puppet show is that it takes on a heavy topic in a light-hearted way so as to educate but not alarm the youth. Hopefully, the message got through, that they each have a role to play in fighting pollution. Towards the end of the show, the leading cast members came down and sat on the stage front steps and told the children just that. Some kids in the audience may not have heard the message but the stage was piled high with plastic trash, and the story was all about getting rid of it for good, so let’s trust have the EU, Aperture Africa and Kasia’s gift was well received.