Talking turtle embodies folk stories, fairytales

CHENNAI: Puppeteer Shreedevi Sunil, and her talking turtle, travel the world sharing stories. Since turtles have been compared to things that are old, the creature by nature cracks jokes around being so old, yet evolving all the time.

“Turtles symbolises wisdom and knowledge that come from stories too. More importantly, I was able to adapt the story The Talkative Turtle from the Panchatantra,” she states.

In Shreedevi’s rendition, the turtle falls down as a result of opening his mouth to talk, and finds himself in her garden. As they talk, the turtle decides to using his love for chatting and his plethora of stories alongside her.

The puppeteer’s energy is infectious, just ask her puppets. Her puppets tell folk stories and fairytales, myths and legends, improvised tales, international wonder tales at storytelling sessions. Shreedevi shares her love of story with children and adults through dynamic, theatrical performances and puppetry. Over the last decade, she has performed over 500 puppet shows.

Founder and chief storyteller at Talking Turtles Storytellers, Shreedevi uses her storytelling and puppetry in education, corporate skill building and theater for children.“By delving into the history of the craft, speaking about traditional puppetry and modern puppetry, I hope we create positive spaces for both. Puppetry is also a powerful tool to use in education and also as a tool to express oneself,” she adds.

Since April 2019, Shreedevi has performed over 250 online shows and facilitated over 50 workshops. She has also performed for leading Indian publishers such as Oxford, Pegasus and Karadi Tales. Enchanting an audience of over 700, her musical rendition of the contemporary children’s classic, The Gruffalo at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai became an iconic turning point for her.

The puppeteer is currently travelling across India, and will be seen in the city with her storytelling and skill development workshop on March 9, at IDAM- The Art & Cultural Space, marking its one year anniversary, from 4 pm.