It's
that time of the year again... a chance to 'enthrall, entertain and educate the
kids and say AHA! In Arundhathi's Nag's own words, one of Rangashankara's most
"precious" theatre festivals "Aha! International theatre for
children is in it's eighth year and going strong!! With troupes from all over
the world, including Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom Korea and Afganisthan
performed at Rangashankara this week...with shows ranging from puppet theatre
to shadow plays, from symbolic and surreal to delightful gibberish …..children
between ages of four and above were in for an artistic treat!
This year's takeaway were seven AHA! characters that embrace
diversity and seek to break stereotypes in society – from Raju who loves the
colour pink to Pammy who loves to fix bulbs …from mini-master chef Nandu to the
cricketer Lilli! The interested children got to choose one of these characters
and act out /demonstrate their characteristics in their own manner and style.
While
this year’s year highlight were age specifications prescribing both minimum and
maximum age for the shows, as it had been increasingly felt that there is no
"one size fits all" when it comes to children's theatre, my only
complaint is that there isn't any performance catering to very young kids.. as
it only seems unfair that my younger one had to wait for two whole years to be
unable to experience Aha!:-(
For the last six years…..we’ve been regular at Rangashankara’s Aha! festival and we come back each year begging for more and more…! I’m sure early exposure of theatre to children has a positive impact on their impressionable minds. In fact, I’m amazed at the how my son seemed to remember some of the performances that were staged over 3 to 4 years ago! All thanks to Rangashankara’s Aha! festival.
While
my daughter may be too young to enjoy interesting performances at Rangashankara this year, she is not too
young for the interesting stories revolving around pretend and play acting ………….
And there could not have been a better choice to suit the occasion than “Ari”
a Tulika publication by Vaishali Shroff and illustrated by Kavitha Singh Kale. Centered around a
shy and sensitive boy named Ari whose soft voice is often drowned out by the
common din in the classroom. When the class teacher announces selections for
the class play, Ari’s hands go up but not high enough for the teacher to
notice. While Ari follows the selected children onto the auditorium to watch
the rehearsals of the play ‘Lion and the Mouse”, he cant help feeling that he
could be a much better job of playing the Lion than his classmate. Though a
little disappointed but Ari does not lose hope and finds tremendous satisfaction
in mono-acting the characters of lion and the mouse in front of a mirror at
home…..only to find someone squeaking in to play the role of a mouse – who else
– his mother who joins in the play-acting of the famous fable of “Lion and the
Mouse” …. And after the performance, the actors finally take the much deserved bow!
A beautiful rendition of a tale of childhood yearning fulfilled by a creative parent
to make happy growing-up memories and that’s the Aha! spirit…isnt’ it?