Throw in 982 excited energetic students into a cauldron – add in some impressive music (by some of the talented students themselves), an assortment of charmingly synchronised dances, a fairly well-woven script, lovely melodies, fearless dialogues and faultless delivery of lines. That in a line sums up ‘The Alternative Snow White’ musical - a humorous adaptation of the Little Snow White from Grimms’ Fairy Tales that was staged by the students of Sophia’s High School. With a script laden with (pun-ny) humour - written by David Barrett, directed by the quirky Dr. Ashley William Joseph, an ex-teacher of the school (who now runs the William Joseph Academy for performing Arts located in Koramangala) and brilliant choreography by V.Ganesh – eagerly brought alive by the students who worked as a tireless team for nearly two months!
There was nearly nothing mainstream about it - whether it was the funny ‘Inspector from the Ministry of Political Correctness’ who threatened to close the play down at several instances objecting to seemingly ‘discriminatory’ usages of words like ‘White’ and ‘Dwarfs’ , twirling ballerinas intermingling seamlessly with hip sashaying samba dancers, a (half) witty dwarf (oops homunculus…) who innocently thinks aloud “If someone is scared half to death twice over, what happens?”; good-natured digs at Swedish accents for which “someone would soon find a cure”, graceful ballroom dancers mingling effortlessly with the worker-class twirlers, some entertaining acrobatic mice – jumping and squealing animatedly; Trixie – Snow White’s faithful devoted little pet dog (who was the favourite among the sub-five-year olds in the audience) yelping and howling his way into conversations - barking explanations and woofing love; peppered all through with melodious renditions from a huge chorus of students with all the strappings of rhythm, rhyme, note and meter well in place.
Of course, all the comedy and wit were held firmly together in the grim plot of the age old tale – the evil, step-mother Queen with her dark, dreary dismal robe contrasting strongly with her red angry cloak -- flashing fiery jealousy and anger on all without exception, thirsting after the heart of the soft-spoken Snow White (who the truthful Mirror on the Wall calls the fairest in the land) and the seven earnest hardworking little men who save the girl from the clutches of evil. The moral of the ultimate triumph of good is happily delivered in the end, finally culminating in a grand wedding with flower-girl mice and page-boy dwarfs.
In the vast pool of pure, happy young talent, worthy of mention were the superb performances by the students who played the evil queen and Snow White. It’s good to see that such educational institutions are taking the effort of discovering and unearthing potential in their students and providing such opportunities for students to showcase their talent.
