The first thing the over 300 children who gathered at the State Central Library for a theatre workshop, as part of its summer school, had to do was to put their chairs away and make space to sit on the floor.
“Get some dirt on your clothes,” Sanoj Mamo, who led the two-day workshop that concluded on Tuesday, told them. “And sit together, instead of being on little islands of your own.”
This is essentially what the workshop is about, Sanoj told The Hindu ; giving the children a break from the routine and discipline imposed on them in schools as well as homes, and letting them be their natural selves instead.
To encourage them to do this, he introduced them to Totto Chan: The Little Girl at the Window , the Japanese children’s book about a young girl who enrols in an unusual school that combines learning with freedom and fun.
A different world
Totto Chan’s story, which they enacted and improvised on, gave the children a glimpse of a world where they could explore nature without worrying about getting dirty or breaking the schedule, and where they would learn to love and respect each other despite differences.
Through such camps, where he leads children in playing games, story-telling and role-play, Sanoj, artistic director at Angamaly-based Sattva Children’s Theatre, is trying to study the potential of such recreative activities as educative processes.
Unlearning
These activities, apart from inspiring the children’s creative energies, are also ways to help them unlearn the artificial social constructs imbibed in their minds, according to Sanoj. For example, at a workshop in Kannur recently, he had to spend almost two hours convincing young boys and girls to hold each other’s hands during a game.
The two-day workshop, which also included a session on the basics of theatre, was organised as a precursor to a full-fledged drama camp to be held in the future, said P.U. Ashokan, programme convener of the summer school. The workshop was held in association with Bharat Bhavan.