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This compilation of plays is tailor-made for classroom learning

Crea-Shakthi’s publication No Drama Just Theatre is an attempt to get students interested in the study of past events

Published - April 17, 2018 01:05 pm IST

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 16/02/2015: BEYOND THE ARCLIGHTS: Faizan Mohamed, Vaidhya M. Sundar, Dushyanth Gunashekar and Abhinav Suresh of Crea Sakthi, during an interview with The Hindu, in Chennai on February 16, 2015.
Photo: R. Ravindran

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, 16/02/2015: BEYOND THE ARCLIGHTS: Faizan Mohamed, Vaidhya M. Sundar, Dushyanth Gunashekar and Abhinav Suresh of Crea Sakthi, during an interview with The Hindu, in Chennai on February 16, 2015. Photo: R. Ravindran

Ever wondered how Singapore was formed? Or pondered upon stories of the Second World War? Now, you can experience these historic episodes in the classroom, not through textbooks, but through the tools of theatre. Crea-Shakthi publishes No Drama Just Theatre , a compilation of plays on world history tailored for classroom learning.

Featuring nine writers, the book is a collection of original plays that Crea-Shakti came out with last year. Says Dushyanth Gunashekar, the founder of Crea-Shakthi, “I realised reading is quite low among children now. Moreover, books on theatre or the theories are quite expensive. We thought of collating our own content. The book is priced at ₹250.”

Gunashekar says they have made the content in the book align with the mainstream syllabus of the students’ textbooks. “We want to marry the two kinds of content. We also realised that history teaching in schools is riddled by facts and numbers, making the learning experience a very dry process. That’s not how we remember certain episodes in history. We dissect certain characters through stories.”

Each play is 30 to 35 minutes long, and is interspersed with detailed descriptions of theatrical exercises that can precede and follow it. “The idea is to create a deeper understanding of history among children and make them curious. I also think that’s what our textbooks should aspire to do. The student should at least be interested to find out more about a given subject,” says Gunashekar.

Crea-Shakthi had previously brought out its first book on folk stories last year. They would like to keep in mind a universal theme, says Gunashekar. “We do not want to restrict ourselves to the Indian market. We received a lovely response to the first book. While reading the second book, the children will have to draw out characters. In the process, so many aspects like gender and body will be covered.”

So far, three schools in and out of Chennai have included the first book in their syllabus. “While we are not going to be restrained by an academic approach, we are aware that the parents look at us as a serious organisation with an academic approach.”

The book is an outcome of that academic bent. Says Gunashekar, “The book stresses on content-based rather than form-based learning that allows students to arrive at their own ideas. It is this kind of content that helps them grow into well rounded individuals with differential thinking, who can find a solution to all kinds of problems in the world.”

(The book is published by Notion Press)

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