A scene from the play Ashoka, staged at Aban Mahal, Dhakuria, to mark Children’s Little Theatre’s 57th year

Children, from four to 14 years, brought alive the times of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in a play by Children’s Little Theatre (CLT) to mark its 57th year at Aban Mahal, in Dhakuria. Part of its annual festival, held from December 24 to 28, the play was staged on the opening and closing nights.

Known for its elaborate and colourful productions with puppets and children, CLT’s repertoire for the festival included Joy Therapy (by the differently abled), Dushtu Indur (The Naughty Mouse), Buro Angla, Rajkahini and Luv Kush. The play Ashoka, that combined voiceover, choreography and acting, was written by the historian and past CLT student, Dipesh Chakrabory who now teaches in a Chicago university.

A play at Jagat Mukherjee Park, near Bagbazar, on December 19 as a part of Bol Jamoore, the street theatre festival organised by the NGO CRY. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Chakraborty, in Calcutta to attend the festival, said that he had written the play as a suggestive draft to be reworked by CLT members. “At the time, the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Asoka had just released. But our intention was not to replicate the grandeur of the film, but to portray Ashoka’s transformation from the cruel conqueror Chanda-Ashoka to the benevolent Dhamma-Ashoka. I looked for historical evidence about Ashoka’s early life, but there were none. All we had were his edicts, deciphered by philologist and East India Company employee James Prinsep and tales in Buddhist manuscripts. There was nothing to corroborate the tales of Upagupta, said to have been his guru, or whether Ashoka had killed his 99 siblings to establish himself on the throne. We used them, for without the tales, there could be no play on Ashoka.”

The stage had several tiers, to recreate several scenes, including a town square, hunting scenes of young Ashoka and his siblings chasing deer, Bindusara’s death surrounded by the sons of his two queens and even the battle of Kalinga that is said to have transformed Ashoka.

“The production is in keeping with CLT’s tradition of staging meaningful children’s theatre,” said Priyadarshini Ghosh, the set designer.

Though the dancers’ performance was wanting in coordination, Soma Bha, who played Ashoka through the various stages of his life, more than made up for it. Said Abhijit Sen, a Class IX student: “I lived Ashoka’s life through the play.”