Hyderabad: This summer, a host of theatre workshops are being held for children up to the age of 14, to help express themselves better. Most of the workshops accommodate up to 20 students per batch and go on for 10-20 days.
City-based theatre activist Vaishali Bisht has worked with around 2000 children in the last 14 years. Her theatre workshop helps children think independently, and use theatre to address their own concerns, which could be anything from difficulty in tying one’s shoelaces to speaking about inequitable distribution of wealth, in a creative way.
Nine-year-old Vaanidhi, joined the workshop to find out “What it would be like.” She says, “I am more confident about myself and I made a lot of new friends too.”
Similarly, Aditi Damodar, a student of Glendale Academy had done the workshop with Suzanne Patel, who is one of the people behind the Kadak Chai Theatre Group. Aditi says, “Every time I am a part of one, I learn more about facial expressions, how to modulate my voice accordingly.”
Apoorva Corni, a student of Delhi Public school is participating at Devendranath Sankarnarayan’s applied theatre workshop, where children are exposed to various sights and sounds, to help focus on each student’s individuality, rather than their acting.
“Earlier I had theatre as a hobby activity in my school, but now they have taken it off. Being a part of these workshops I feel I can express myself better with each passing day,” she adds.
