Children and their parents bonded over theatre at an auditory performance of three poems by Vikram Seth.
The one-and-a-half-hour performance by Dolly Basu’s theatre group Choopkatha presented adaptations of The Hare and the Tortoise, The Frog and the Nightingale and The Elephant and the Tragopan from Beastly Tales from Here and There.
Each of the chosen poems had a moral to share that was conveyed to the audience through contemporary themes.
Copies of Vikram Seth's book on display
“Every time we choose something for a performance, we always keep our children in mind. This is our way of instilling values in children and help them open their eyes, ears and mind to what is right and wrong.’’ said Basu. “All three (poems) are very topical and this is what is actually happening around us. I wanted my children to go through this and, in a roundabout way, make them realise that this is what is happening and that it should not happen.”
The six performers — Krishiv Poddar, Class IX, La Martiniere for Boys; Devansh Basu, Class IX, The Heritage School; Anurag Deb Sarkar, Class III, Welland Gouldsmith, Patuli; Dhananjoy Sinha, working professional from NIFT; and Deepanwita Basu, a professional working with Ericson — scored in dialogue delivery, prompt timing, voice modulation and facial expressions.
‘’I have been learning (theatre) for a little less than a decade. Theatre, for me, is fun. It’s like a hobby. We were chosen for the performance and I liked the text. It took us some time to prepare because everything was delayed during the pandemic,’’ Poddar said.
The performance in progress
Basu makes sure parents are involved in all her performances. “As a family, they hardly have time to share or be together. They are all busy and now everyone is sitting with their own devices. Such activities ensure bonding and offer something in common besides eating out or watching a movie. It brings them closer and children feel that they are doing something that their parents feel is important enough. This is also very important for general development of the personality and their character. Not everyone will become an actor or a performer, but the whole process tones them (the children) into very different human beings,’’ she said.
The audience, too, was a mix of young and old. ‘’My mother and I had heard about Dolly Basu, so we came to see the performance. It was amazing,” said Sunandini Sen, a Class VI student of DPS Newtown.
Mayura Misra, owner, Storyteller Bookstore, spoke about the thought behind the event. ‘’It goes back to my idea of community building where more and more people come together in a bookshop. People should visit a bookshop and get involved in these activities and include children in these coming-together programmes. We were happy to have parents and children at the bookstore on a sunny morning,’’ she said.
Basu believes that every space can be converted into a performing space. ‘’Wherever you are, you don’t have to always wait for a massive production. You can reflect your creative urge in a simple way. Any space is a space. Even with four benches you can perform. You can make your own YouTube videos so that your creativity finds expression. I am introducing the children to this kind of performance so that every space is a space for them,’’ Basu said.
