The Lao National Puppet Theatre group travelled to Sweden to perform for international audiences from May 23 to 27, at the Swedish Theatre Biennial, which is an international arts festival gathering theatre performers from around the world.
The festival was held in the Swedish town of Örebro , where the puppeteers put on their show with about 1,500 other performers from more than 30 countries.
“The Lao performers put on a wonderful show, along with many other international performers,” the Deputy Director of the theatre, Mr Souvandy Chanthavong, said.
The puppeteers shared the traditional tale of Thaokalaketh, (Mr Kalaketh), and a modern show called Kandeekuakae. (Prevention is Better than Cure), which tells a story about HIV/AIDS pre vention in Laos with each performance lasting about 30 minutes.
“Of all the countries participating in the festival, our puppet show was the only one to make the big headlines in local and national newspapers,” he said.
The group attended the festival to learn from other performers and share ideas, to improve and promote the Lao Puppet Theatre, a report from the theatre stated.
The Lao Puppet Theatre group was invited to the festival by the Swedish Centre of International Theatre Institute with sponsorship from the Children’s Voice project and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
