Tram Arts Trust:
Maati Katha

Marginalized Voices and the Memories Clay Transfers: A Review of Maati Kaatha

An Essay by Rahul Koonathara

Maati Katha merges multiple forms—storytelling, traditional dolls, and ethnic music—to depict the existence, struggles, and pressures of Sundarbans, a mangrove forest area in the Ganges Delta of Bengal, India. Maati means “Earth,” and katha means “story.” Taken together the title translates as Earth Story. The performance uses mud, symbolizing the elemental quintessence of life, to craft the Universe’s creation, as well as dolls from the geographical regions of Sundarbans. India is well recognized for its traditional doll-making families spread across the country, such as those producing toys in Channapatna and dolls in Thanjavur. Like the doll traditions of Sundarbans, these are celebrated as children’s toys and handicrafts, recognized and disseminated nationally and globally. These latter doll traditions have received geographical indication (GI) tags asserting that the artwork originates from and is authentic to a specific location, an attribution that complicates both the intentions and tensions associated with this production. 

In the processes of flattening and reshaping the mud, the performance embodies the fragmentation and division of geographical regions, establishing the geopolitical context of Sundarbans. The performance addresses broader political tensions in India: polarization, caste hierarchies, and environmental catastrophes. It advocates communal harmony, emphasizes deep connections with Mother Earth, and highlights the significance of nature in our lives. The use of traditional dolls and local earth raises the question of whether Maati Katha can still be categorized as object theater, or does it align more closely with doll theater or an adapted traditional Indian puppetry performance?

Maati Katha is co-directed by Choiti Ghosh and Mohammed Shameem. According to Ghosh, a metropolitan artist from Mumbai trained in France in object dramaturgy, the dolls in the play were commissioned from traditional doll makers of the Sundarbans, while the clay was sourced locally in Chicago. These choices add layers of function to the performance, advancing a sense of togetherness and heightening the audience’s engagement with the narrative. For me, another distinctive feature of this performance is its innovative approach to showcasing craftsmanship onstage during performance by transforming mud into various lifelike forms, unpacking their meanings, and then reimagining them into other beings. Although this style of presentation is known internationally through the work of companies like Indefinite Articles (based in the UK), it is unusual in the context of Indian puppetry. 

The non-proscenium stage looks open and minimal, allowing the audience to see both the performers and shadow images in the performance space, while creating an intimate and sensual experience. The backdrop alternates between light and shadow, with projections and red lighting evoking vivid imagery of storms, war zones, and moments of crisis. The use of sound, from traditional Baul music to unsettling noises, creates a dynamic atmosphere that oscillates between celebration and tension. The music, blending recordings and live instruments, reflects the coexistence of tradition and modernity, grounding the performance in a modern sociocultural context. The exploration of environmental catastrophe, particularly the impact of cyclones, rising waters, and human encroachment on the fragile ecosystem of the Sundarbans, is portrayed through this vivid imagery. The transformation of the performance space into a storm-ravaged landscape underscores the urgency of the issues that need immediate care. 

According to Claudia Orenstein, in puppetry, objects demonstrate their own agency, desires, and emotions. Objects become subjects. The metaphorical idea of objects becoming subjects and its inverse, subjects becoming or being treated like objects, are embedded within puppetry and ripe with implications for stories that deal with the very notions of agency and power (Orenstein, 2024: 112). This idea is embodied in the production by characters like Salma and Dukhee, as well as a tiger that personifies the struggles and stories of the Sundarbans’s people. The inclusion of Islamic and Hindu elements, such as chants of  “Allah Allah” and “Hari Hari” alongside Durga imagery, reflects the region’s syncretic culture and the tensions within it. In this way Maati Katha is not just an object performance; it is a reflection on the human condition, our relationship with nature, and the sociopolitical realities of marginalized communities. The performance raises critical questions about coexistence, communal harmony, and environmental sustainability. It is both deeply rooted in its local context and universally resonant, making it a compelling piece of postcolonial theatre from India. 

The dolls commissioned from the artisans of Sundarbans are traditionally created  for worship and children’s toys. During her appearance on one of the Ellen Van Volkenburg panel discussions, Ghosh asserted that this is the first time that the dolls have been deployed for a theatrical performance and that this new usage is helping the revival of that craft tradition. I believe that the playfulness of dolls, combined with the puppeteer’s training in object and material performance, facilitates the adaptation to bridge relationships on a complex allegorical level of understanding. The relationship between human, nonhuman, and the other in this performance exposes an underlying tension within the discourse. The performance thematically engages with two central questions—the oscillation and dynamics of status and hierarchy, both between puppet and puppeteer and between human and nonhuman—while continually problematizing power itself: who holds it, for how long, and through what means? The notion of puppet and puppeteer for Ghosh is “I am there, therefore I exist,” where the presence of the puppet affirms the puppeteer’s role, thus blurring the boundaries between agency and control. The interplay between the human and nonhuman world is deeply embedded within the narrative, emphasizing the interdependence of folks from Sundarbans who live in close proximity to forests, air, water, animals, and the Earth, thereby existing in a constant intermingling with the ecosystem. 

In conventional object theater, everyday objects are taken out of their original context and reimagined in new narratives, attaining independent, diverse meanings. However, in Ghosh and Shameem’s work, the dolls are not abstracted or recontextualized; instead, they remain deeply rooted in their cultural origins, serving as vessels for storytelling and cultural preservation.