A Musical Puppet Show Inspired by Silvia Baumann’s short story Josefine and denk: spiel (Austria)

Jaaji always follows her heart. She is tall, strong, and brave, and cares for elephants. She always knows what her giants need and does what needs to be done. But one day, when she falls in love with Max, things change. Jaaji now does what Max likes. She becomes small, weak, fearful, and neglects her elephants. "Help, I'm shrinking!" Jaaji realizes after a while, and soon she's barely recognizable. What to do? Good advice is hard to come by. Told through a playful blend of music, masks, Muppets, Bunraku-style puppets, and finger puppets, Jaaji is a tender, heart-opening tale which reminds us that we never need to “make ourselves small” to fit in. Jaaji invites audiences to celebrate their own shape, size, and courage 

Produced by: Namkampani 

Directed by: Gerti Tröbinger 

Puppets Design: Gerti Tröbinger

Dramaturge: Padmavati Rao 

Performed by: Surabhi Vasisht, Trishala Srinivas

Asst. Director: Mrinali Chouhan 

Music Composed by: M. D. Pallavi 

Lyrics: Shashank Rajashekar 

Percussions: Raghavendra K. 

Light Design by: Subodha Subrahmanya 

Publicity Design: Deepthi Prasad 

Executive Producer: Priti Bakalkar 

Gerti Tröbinger, Director

Founder of Figurentheater Gerti Tröbinger and Artistic Director of the International Welser Figurentheaterfestival (Austria), Gerti has been creating and performing puppetry works globally for over two decades. In 2002, she established the solo company Figurentheater Gerti Tröbinger, performing widely across Austria and internationally, with notable engagements at Landestheater Linz/U-Hof, Projekttheater Vorarlberg, and Theater der Jugend Wien. Grounded in puppetry, she continually expands her artistic language through visual arts, mime, clowning, dance, and music, creating experimental performance spaces. Alongside performing, she works as a set designer and puppet maker for major institutions, including Theater der Jugend Wien, Theater Phönix Linz, Theater des Kindes Linz, the Salzburg Festival, and others. Since 2009, she has served as artistic director of the International Welser Figurentheaterfestival, earning the Grand Theatre Prize of Upper Austria in 2011. 

Surabhi Vasisht, Performer

Surabhi is a Bengaluru-based theatre practitioner and founder of NamKampani, with nearly 20 years of experience as an actor, director, and designer. Trained at Ninasam, she has worked with theatre groups including Sanket, Indian Ensemble, Samudaya, Spandana Benaka, Dramanon, Kreative Theatre, and Sanchari Theatre.

Since 2018, she has been directing theatre works such as Sandhaana and Salman Khanana Difficultisu. She also leads Bachha Party, a children’s theatre initiative under NamKampani. Her recent work includes Project Darling and a clowning production developed for the AHA International Children’s Theatre Festival 2022 at Rangashankara.

Trishala Srinivas, Performer

Trishala is a multidisciplinary artist and storyteller. 

Her insatiable love for all things stories, has driven her to pursue different mediums to weave together and share compelling narratives, through theatre, film, painting, sculpting, puppetry, and creating interactive installations.