Most of the plays featured at Jashn-e-Bachpan which ended this past week explored contemporary themes and even those with animal characters were invested with a contemporary ring. Other noteworthy aspect was these plays were rich in production values which greatly enhanced their appeal for the children in the auditorium who displayed keen interests in this arguably India's greatest international theatre festival for children which ran for 12 days featuring 22 Indian and five plays from abroad. In these plays 550 artists, both adults and children, participated. Such a vast colourful canvas of theatrical art will linger for long in the memory of children who witnessed the festival with a sense of fun, wonder and delight.
Presented by Rangbaaz, Mumbai under the joint direction of Lokesh Rai and Swapnil Shrirao, “Jungle Book 2” (Hindi and English) evoked tremendous response from children. A jam-packed Abhimanch echoed with the laughter of the audience. The members of large cast and the audience were in lively rapport.
The hallmark of the production was the imaginatively designed production, the colourful properties, apt use of entire acting space including wings. The entire upstage wall was decorated with colourful umbrellas to provide the backdrop of dense lush green forest and on the downstage left was located a raised platform.
There were long ropes vertically hanging used by actors acting as animals to swing from one space to another-all this create an ambience of a jungle in which animals of various species live. The effects of skilful lighting by Amogh Phadke added to the ambience an aura of magic. The performers in the costumes of animals displayed remarkable energy, intensity of their motives. It was an animal kingdom following the unwritten code of peaceful co-existence. In this kingdom enters Mowgli, a little boy who grows up in the midst of animals in the protection of Baloo and Bagheera. When Mogli grows up, he is being persistently reminded that he belongs to the human world and live with his own race.
The adaptation from the original by Rudyard Kipling is given the structure of musical and the narrative is unfolded through the conflict which is resolved without bloodshed, raising moral issue about the conduct of the world inhabited by men.
The entire cast acts with remarkable timing with Mohit Agarwal as Mowgli and Kavin Dave as Baloo radiating their portraits making them the cynosure of all eyes.
One of the beautifully lyrical and visually rich productions seen at the festival was “Ei Lanjare” (I am Sorry) in English which was presented by Blooming Cultural Academy of Performing Arts, Manipur under the direction of Ningombam Jadumani Singh. It is a tale of an ungrateful mouse who is empowered by a kind-hearted man with his magical power to protect himself from enemies. He assumes the form of a dreaded tiger, a threat to all those who are weak in its comparison. In his arrogance of power, he tries to kill his own benefactor, the kind-hearted man, who turns him once again in its original form of the mouse. The moral of the parable is conveyed in a clear manner. What makes the production artistically brilliant is the use of costumes, rod puppets, music and lighting design which captivate the audience.
“Manku Mkde” (Marathi) is the dramatic version of a fairytale. Dramatised by Dr. Vijaya Wad, the play is presented by Natyashala Charity Trust, Mumbai under the direction of Bharat More. Exploring various theatrical expressive means -- stage decor, music, dance, mime and lighting – “Manku Makde” transcends language barriers. The story is not narrated but shown through dramatic action. All the characters in the play are animals except a bat and butterfly. The focus is in little Manku, a monkey, who ignores his parents advice not be friendly with Chunnu, a bat, , follows Chunnu, moving through the vast forest land and in the process gets lost the way to his home, confronting dreaded animals. Most of these jungle animals sympathize with Manku trying to help out the small monkey to meet his its parents who are full of anxiety and frantically searching for their little one. The cruel wolf is looking for an opportunity to take hold of Manku but King lion frustrates wolf's evil design to realize. The costumes are beautifully designed which are eye-catching, the backdrop is created in a way that creates the illusion of a dense forest. The music is set in tunes which are delightful. The simple choreographic patterns are lovely blended with other theatrical elements.
Dhruv as Manku Makde brings to his character vivacity, illuminating it with childhood pranks. The audience feels deep empathy for him and takes a sigh of relief when he finally meets his intensely worried parents.
RIVETING FARE: Scene from ‘Tees Maar Khan’
Koom-Koom Theatre, Israel presented under the direction of Andrei Urbakh the non-verbal play “Long, Short And Twisted”. Andrei's kind of theatre has puppets and puppeteers who perform clowns with special focus on mime. The themes he selects are drawn from day-to-day life and have universal appeal in which comic element dominates. The puppets are small, manipulated by rod puppet technique. No special lighting effects are used. Two puppeteers -- Katia Urbakh and Andrei Urbakh -- recreate various slices from life wearing masks. Ropes, strings and ribbons are the key heroes of the production. These elements are handled in a fascinating variety. A finely tuned production, it is eminently comic, providing children hilarious moments. In a way it is an experiment to create a non-verbal visual theatre for children to develop their imagination and to entertain them.
Written and directed by Tamojit Roy, “Bhokatta” (Bengali), which was presented by Jalpaiguri Kalakushali, West Bengal, takes the audience to a different world, a world of stark reality, a world of an orphan teenager who works in his uncle's small factory. He is passionately engaged in flying kite, aspiring to be an unchallengeable kite flyer. But he has little space to fulfill his ambition. In the guise of a student, he impresses the students of a school close to his working place. The guard is also impressed with him and allows him to go to the terrace of the school building.
We watch the harsh conditions in which our hero, Bhokatta, works and lives. We admire his determination to realize his dream. There is a scene where students along with Bhokatta and school guard are being given punishment which evokes laughter. Reflecting youthful optimism, the denouement in which the stern teacher throws away her stick and joins students, Bhokatta and teachers holding the string of kites flying high in the air. The scene is choreographed in a way that exudes vitality, swiftness and optimism. The ambience is realistically conceived. At some distance from the dingy factory, there is the backdrop of high rise buildings.
We have seen a few stage versions of Don Quixote written by Miguel de Cervantes with different interpretations of Quixote. Now at Jashn-e-Bachpan we saw a new version of this immortal character as “Tees Maar Khan” (Hindi) presented by Backstage, Uttar Pradesh under the direction of Pravin Shekhar. The production is dominated by the comic element, evoking laughter. It is a tale of a visionary, naively idealistic, a book-worm divorced from the complex reality of life who is obsessed with the hallucination that he is the liberator of the world from oppression. In his morbid vision he sees that a beautiful princess is in love with him. The self-styled knight errant with his horse accompanied by his friend set out to win the world. In the process he makes himself a butt of ridicule and often thrashed badly.
Using minimal props, the director creates various stage compositions which are expressive and lively. Quixote's encounter with different people, especially with windmill, furious farmers and a girl impart comic rhythm to the production.
The audience laugh heartily when it watches the self-style liberator of the world being beaten up by ordinary people in every encounter. A well rehearsed production, the members of the cast enhance the comic flavour, highlighting that naive idealism and sick vision leading to failure and turning out to be an object of laughing stock.
