Bengaluru-based Theatre for Change has something special planned for children, starting on April 6. “We decided to float an initiative on the nine rasas (emotions) that is a mandatory requisite for theatre art. Professional storytellers and actors across the globe come together to narrate stories (first person/outsourced with personal anecdotes) on the nine emotions: shringara ( love/beauty), hasya ( laughter), karuna (sorrow/loss), raudra (anger), veera (courage), bhayanaka (terror/fear), bibhatsya (disgust), adbhuta (surprise/wonder) and shantha (peace/tranquillity),” says Sujatha Balakrishnan, founder of Theatre for Change.
For the online event, which will be held over a week, starting at 6 pm on April 6, actors will record a video on one rasa , in which they will tell a story as well as include personal anecdotes. Storyteller Vikram Sridhar will introduce the event. Parvati Ramchandran, an actor from Mumbai, will tell a story on karuna , which will introduce children to loss/sorrow in a beautiful way. Artistes such as Abhishek Iyengar, Pooja Tripathi and Mimansa Ojha will also be a part of the event. “I have also roped in the nurse Sunitha, who is from Spandana Senior Care; she takes care of my mother. She is a prolific Kannada poet and she will be penning down a poem on anger, which she will perform for the event,” says Sujatha.
Speaking on why she chose to do an event on the rasas, Sujatha explains: “As a society we do not address all the emotions with the fear of them not being in the best interest of a child. To quote from what the actor Parvati says: This is very similar to Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory which says we focus only on the maths and language skills leaving the others behind. Interpersonal skills, for instance, is similar to karuna , which is compassion/sorrow/loss and which is the need of the hour for children to contribute to this pandemic. It is believed that fear is not in the best interest of a child and so we seldom talk about it. This results in over protectiveness that is detrimental to their development. Psychologist Emma Kenny argues that scary stories, like nightmares, are a sort of dress rehearsal for real-life fear, helping kids learn to cope with the emotion in a low-stakes environment. Sociologist Margee Kerr, a “scare specialist” who studies fear, says frightening experiences can be a helpful tool in developing confidence and can be a boost for self-esteem.”
The event will be held on Theatre for Change Facebook page. Sujatha hopes that the event will connect with children across borders. “We will also be sharing the videos with organisations working with less privileged children. Our message is “indoor or outdoor, theatre art will always open a door for fun learning.”
