Kiii Kiiii…. The children in the audience giggled as they watched a play about a caged parrot. A parrot in a golden cage learns lessons in English, Mathematics and Tamil. But all it can say is ‘ki ki’ and the children joined in.
It was an evening of activity for children who gathered at Samskaara Academy in Ondipudur. They clapped, laughed, and learnt a few lessons as they watched Sthaayi Children’s Theatre’s presentation of a Tamil play ‘Koondu Palli’, based on Tagore’s short story ‘The Parrot’s Training’.
Puppeteer and ventriloquist J. Anandaraj set the mood for the evening with a bright red puppet dressed in traditional costumes. It danced to a folk song and mingled with the crowd, much to the delight of the children. Next, he performed ventriloquism with his puppet, a monkey, and the children were hooked — ‘how does he speak’ ‘how does he laugh’...
“I am going to tell you all a story of a Raja,” announced Anandaraj, as the drumbeats filled the air and the children took centre stage. It was a breezy evening and the children performed in the open air with minimal props. The children, dressed in white, took turns to play the angry king (who is upset with a parrot for dirtying his throne), the bird, and the ministers at the court, the trees… They delivered dialogues fluently and also broke into a folk song during the narration. “It is a primary level play where the children perform without any make-up and costumes. There is no set design too. We just used mats as props to show,” said Thirunavakkarasu, who directed the play. He is trained at NSD and Ninasam in Karnataka. “The children learn a lot. Theatre keeps them engaged and makes them aware. They stay energetic and confident too.”
In the play, a caged parrot learns lessons (it is even taught postures to show respect to the king!) ...and at the same time is smart enough to set itself free from the cage. There is always a way out in any difficult situation. Isn’t it true?
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