John Pradeep comes from a Montessori background — this children’s engagement specialist and theatre practitioner worked on a curriculum that followed the unstructured style of Montessori education, to engage and involve children in theatre. The onus is on the child to create or imagine, while the facilitator takes a back seat as someone who kindles this process of creativity. Parents have now taken to the buzzword, by wanting their children to learn other skills through theatre.
According to John, theatre enables two ways of education — first is when the art form is taught to children, who, in turn, learn to perform.
“The other, more sought-after technique, is when theatre enables exposure to other skills. We teach vocabulary, speaking, and socio-emotional skills through theatre. Parents seem to be more interested in this,” says John, who designs the curriculum and heads Happy Cow, a children’s theatre initiative by Evam, which was flagged off in 2013. Happy Cow works with schools, activities and gated communities and aims at both teaching theatre and teaching through theatre. “The output varies, depending on the dynamics and the nature of the group. Every child has the ability to surprise you. There is no prescribed structure to teaching theatre; that is the best thing,” observes John.
Seeking due credit
Krishna Kumar S, who heads Masquerade, has been working with children for more than 12 years and feels the same. Masquerade works with children upwards of seven years and has an exclusive group for children called Bear and Beanbag.
“There is a slight sense of anarchy on both sides, when you work with children. It’s simple; when you let children in a room, they are all over the place, whereas adults go and find themselves a corner,” says Krishna Kumar, who also believes that the most important thing to be kept in mind while working with children, is to not be watertight about what you want and what you think they want.
In the city, most theatre artistes seek validation from an adult audience. Somehow, actors seem to think that performing for children, does not give them due credit, feels Krishna Kumar. He also works with schools throughout the year, by holding workshops and helping with house productions.
Aiding cognition
Pockets of activities do happen especially around festivals and vacations, but performances for children have not found a prominent space in the city as productions for adults have. “Personally, I love performing for children because it is difficult to be accepted by them. It is an environment that builds trust,” says Krishna Kumar who also feels that the very meaning of the word ‘play’ is lost because adults prefer to perform only for an adult audience.
Toddlers too get exposed to theatre through workshops done by some of these theatre groups. Aysha Rau’s The Little Theatre is one such group that works with children above the age of two years. It concentrates on developing the cognitive and communicative abilities of toddlers through theatre. “In terms of participation, I have seen kids who come with difficulties in socialising and so on. These workshops help them discover a voice through which they can express themselves,” says Krishnakumar Balasubramanian, artistic director of The Little Theatre.
He adds that by providing a platform of this nature, children gain the freedom to express their thoughts even if they don’t conform to societal standards or expectations. “Theatre puts them in a neutral, natural disposition,” he continues. Running up to their annual Christmas pantomimes — in which kids form a significant part of the cast — regular workshops are conducted interspersed with activities like sketching and tie and dye.
