 |
Those who see Ermírio José da Silva sitting on a bench in the town’s square notice a thin, shy man. But they are mistaken. Give him a tambourine and a puppet and he transforms himself. He becomes Miro. In the town of Carpina where he was born in 1964, everyone knows his work. “When I was a child, going from the country to the town, I saw the puppet theatre. I liked it so much I asked God to teach me how to make something like that. I went back home and sawed a broom, drew a face on it, used pieces of hosepipe to make the arms and cut up my brother’s socks to make the hands. I made 20 or 30 puppets like that. I tried and tried and with every one I learned more.” Miro used to listen to stories and observe characters. When he invented a new one he would give him a story and a song. “I think I’d get ill if I had to spend one day away from my puppets. I perform in all sorts of places and make several puppets, to sell and to show. My wife and children help me. That’s how we make a living. I also make fishing nets, go fishing, play tambourine and walk on stilts. I’ve worked as a mechanic and made nets for football pitches and circuses. But my life today is puppets and stories. All I need now is a trunk to carry them all in.” |
