Clara Christhudas is a student of Perks School. She is convinced that the future of theatre lies in the hands of the youth. But, for this, theatre must break free from the shackles of its conventional forms, she says. “I don’t like many plays because I find the language archaic. After all, the point of a play is to connect with the audience.”
Clara is getting ready in a green room of SNS Institutions. She and her team are staging a play for the Sthaayi Inter-school Drama Competition 2014. “We are recreating a popular English song, as a play,” says Clara who has scripted and directed it.
Around 19 schools from in and around Coimbatore are taking part in the competition, organised by Sthaayi Theatre in and Theatre for Education in collaboration with Book Mark library And Activity Centre, SNS Institutions and The Aseema Trust for Arts in Education, Chennai. Jayashree Murthy, founder of Sthaayi, says the response was good. Jayashree also plans to hold a Tamil theatre competition, soon.
The corridors of the college mills with children, dressed in costumes. On stage, the final act of Merchant of Venice is unfolding. As it finishes the actors step down and join the audience. Fourteen-year-old Rukma, who plays Portia says she is still shivering out of nervousness. “But I enjoyed all the attention and applause. The best part was I could act like a boy,” she says.
Next, Satchidananda Jyothi Niketan from Kalar presents an adaptation of a story by Leo Tolstoy. The play, about a greedy farmer, was cleverly adapted into the Indian scenario. Shivaguru, who played the farmer, says the stage is not new to them. “Once a week, we have time dedicated to extra-curricular activities such as oratory, theatre and art. Shakespearean plays are our favourites.”
The school gives equal importance to both theatre and academics, says Geetha Sivakumar, their English teacher. “The children are even graded on involvement in theatre,” she says. It is an oft-used tool in classrooms. Theatre and role-playing motivate children to articulate better and get a better grasp on the texts they study. “We have seen children from rural backgrounds responding to a text so well after they start enacting it,” she says.
Judges Vikram Sridhar, Leon James and Anjali Ramanna are impressed with the sheer energy and enthusiasm of the participants. Anjali Ramanna who is a lawyer, life skill trainer and theatre artist says children can never go wrong when it comes to theatre. “Their innocence is their strength. They are just natural, unlike us.”
But the judges say that there is a lot more to do. Anjali feels the children could have been less rigid. Vikram Sridhar, a performance/oral story-teller and theatre practitioner based in Bangalore, says that the lack of proper guidance stunts theatre culture in schools. Leon, master trainer at Helen O’ Grady Drama Academy, agrees with him. “Theatre is still considered an extra-curricular activity. It should be integrated into the main syllabus.”
Leon says he was also surprised to find stark examples of gender stereotypes where the mother is cooking in the kitchen while the father reads the newspaper. Theatre should be a tool to break these stereotypes. Had the plays been scripted and directed by the children themselves, he says, the stereotypes may not have cropped up. “The teachers must give them the freedom to create their own plays. From the script to the prop, the children must be involved in the making of the play. Only then can they feel the drama.”Vikram also pointed out that there were no vernacular plays. “I would have loved to listen to a Tamil play. We have such strong oral and performing traditions. I feel the future of Indian theatre lies in getting back to our roots.” But with children being increasingly lured to television and social media, does theatre stand a chance? The three of them strongly believe that theatre is so intrinsic to our being that it will never die. “Don’t we indulge in theatrics every day ? Even a musician gets dramatic while he is performing,” says Leon who is a musician, himself. Vikram chips in, “Music, theatre, dramatics, literature… they are all pillars of art. And, we must acknowledge them as that.”
Prize winners
First prize: Satchidananda Jyothiniketan, Kalar
Second prize: Chinmaya CBSE
Third prize: Amrita Nallampalayam
Best Actor: Sajan Subramanya
Best Actress: P R. Gayathri
