A fishy tale that is uplifting sounds like a contradiction in terms. Yet this impossibility was achieved by the students and teachers of Modern High School in a production that involved drama, music and dance. Under the Sea, at the Science City Auditorium, took the audience on Sunday afternoon up into the open sky and made them touch the stars. It was a superlative performance that demonstrated that this wretched city of ours is not devoid of talent, dedication and discipline.

Ritu Sarawgi, who conceptualized and produced Under the Sea, befittingly gave the production a simple storyline. A little fish, called Jet Li, who earlier lived in an aquarium accidentally gets flushed out from his cosy home and swims out into a beautiful coral reef in the ocean. There he befriends the kind but wise Fishy 1303, a fish who is yet to be discovered and be given a categorical name. Fishy tries, thanklessly at times, to keep Jet Li out of trouble, and takes care to introduce him to the beauties of the reef that is inhabited by innumerable fish and other underwater creatures, including an evil shark, Sharkozy, and a baby whale, Boomba, who is separated from his mother. The story progresses to the downfall of Sharkozy through the wiles of Fishy and the latter’s elevation to the top position in the reef.

The simplicity and the innocence — trust little children to remind us cynical adults of the importance of simplicity and innocence — of the storyline was spiced up by some delightful puns and wordplay and by an underlying commentary on some of the stupidities and absurdities of the adult world. Election campaigns in India, Bollywood and the lack of care about the environment all came in for comment and telling mimicry.

The dancing and the coordination were breathtaking. Each separate group of fish came on stage with its individual dance sequence. In the course of one-and-a-half hours, around 700 girls were on the stage. Every sequence was perfect and wonderfully choreographed and executed. The sequence with the girls on roller skates obviously stole the show, and I, for one, sat there wondering how, despite being on skates, the girls maintained their timing and movements. In my mind, old-timer that I am, the sequence with Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White displayed dancing skills of an exceptionally high order.

It is invidious to single out performances in a production that is a complete team effort but I thought we have a rising star in Adrija Ghosh (of Class VIII), who played Sharkozy. Preetanjali Mitra as Jet Li and Amrita Bhattacharjee as Fishy 1303, both Class V students, were on stage right through the one-and-a-half hours. Their performances were really commendable. I would like to specially mention Swastika Chatterji (again from Class V), who acted as the Stray Fish. She had very little to say but was on stage doing her business right through the performance. Actors always talk about the difficulties of being on stage without dialogue and yet doing something. Swastika made the difficult look easy. There is real talent here in these girls and god bless them.

At the end of it all, it is the team effort that remains etched in one’s mind. The sheer scale of it, the training and the rehearsals make it a memorable event. I have one complaint: one-and-a-half hours slipped away too fast. I can think of no better way to usher in the winter festivities in the city than diving under the sea. Thank you, Modern High School.