A child’s play
Two plays, written and enacted by children, as part of Vaishali Bisht’s theatre workshop
By : priyanka praveen
Update: 2014-10-12 22:37 GMT
The two plays that were staged on Friday at Lamakaan, might have been part of a children’s production, but the message that the plays left behind was anything but childish. Vaishali Bisht’s three-month long theatre workshop for children ended with a grand finale for a houseful of guests. Vaishali says, “We had a three- month workshop, where we introduced children to different types of theatre. Out of them, we selected two forms, Sanskrit theatre and Greek theatre to perform,” says Vaishali.
The main difference between the two forms of theatre is that, in the Sanskrit form, there is a Sutradhar or the narrator who keeps appearing in between the play. While, the Greek form has a chorus, where a group of actors explain various parts of the play.
But what was commendable, apart from the acting by the kids were the two scripts for the plays written by the children themselves. “Each child wrote a story and we weaved all of them into different scenes and acts,” says Vaishali, who also adds that the rehearsals for the plays took just 10 days.While the Sanskrit play dealt with issues like gender-equality the Greek play dealt with bravery and presence of mind.