PUPPETMASTER Ali Sayed Ali has been reinvigorating a classic Bahraini storytelling tradition, with his unique creation called Rayhan, to help nurture a love of reading amongst children in the kingdom.
Inspired by traditional oral storytellers called ‘Hakawatis’, who used puppets and dolls to bring their tales to life, Mr Ali has been touring the country with his rod-and-arm puppet and regaling young children with Arabic tales and folklore.
“The idea for Rayhan was born in 2019, when I started using theatre and traditional puppets while telling stories to children as part of my job,” the 42-year-old senior librarian at the Sanabis Centre for Learning Resources told the GDN.
“Children were fascinated and entertained by the use of these puppets, and thus was born the idea of a rod-and-arm puppet with Bahraini facial features.”
Rayhan with one of his young fans
Rayhan, Bahraini educator Mr Ali’s puppet, is 90cm tall – about the size of nine-year-old boy. Its arms are operated by using metal rods.
Rayhan
The puppet was designed and created by an American puppet-maker, with specific design elements requested by Mr Ali. “I wanted the puppet to resemble Bahraini people and be part of our identity and culture, so that the children could relate more with the stories,” he explained.
“I struggled to find a place locally or regionally that could create the puppet to my specifications, which included a specific body shape and facial features. So I approached Kevin Gorby in the US who took some time but created Rayhan exactly as I imagined him.”
Rayhan’s name is steeped in the kingdom’s culture as well, translating to ‘basil’ in Arabic. Like the plant’s aroma, Mr Ali hopes that his passion and love for reading energises young Bahrainis to pick up a book and read at a time when interest in reading has been dropping around the world.
Since Mr Ali started putting on shows last year, Rayhan has been an instant hit with parents and children across the kingdom, who love the duo’s playful and fun-loving act.
Moral
“I also try to teach children how to be good and moral human beings through the stories Rayhan and I tell, so I spend a good amount of time finding Bahraini tales that we can then share with children of different age groups,” added Mr Ali, who comes from Malikiya.
“My own children – my daughter Dana, 11, as well as my sons, Mohammed, who is eight years old, and Haider, who is four – all love Rayhan!”
Mr Ali has performed with Rayhan at The People reading space in Water Garden City, in addition to summer camps organised by the Education Ministry and the Environmental Awareness Exhibition organised by the Supreme Council for Environment on the occasion of National Environment Day.
During the pandemic, the two also created an online show called ‘Rayan during Covid-19’ in partnership with the Malikiya Club. And, the two have no intention of stopping anytime soon, with plans already in the works to introduce a friend for Rayhan.
“I have been talking to my wife Nawal about creating a foil-type character called Mushakes, which means ‘rowdy’ in Arabic,” Mr Ali added.
“He would be the character who always gets into trouble and Rayhan has to constantly correct and guide him.
“My ultimate dream is to create a mobile reading and puppet bus, which travels around Bahrain and narrates and reads Bahraini stories to children.”
naman@gulfweekly.com
&uuid=(email))