Egging on theatre movement

The play focussed on the need for books and theatre.

Little stars: Staging a play

Rangamoggu, a children's theatre workshop and jatha was held for 15 days at the Morarji Desai Model Residential School recently. It is a part of the project held under the support of Karnataka Bala Vikasa Academy; Dharwad that envisages encourages creativity and interest in theatre among children. They conduct workshops and stage plays in schools in around the 20 taluks of the districts.

Enthusiastic group

The children picked up the nuances of theatre in the workshop as it comprised learning the art through various activities and games. It was a difficult task to choose 23 children from a total of 137 children as all of them were equally interested. Children learnt the intricacies of theatre taught by the resource persons, Vivekananda College lecturer, Dr Shreesha Kumar, theatre veteran, I K Boluwar and Samsara troupe director, Samshuddin Sampya.

Apart from the workshop to groom the children's latent talent, the list of requirements such as props, schedule and make-up materials were prepared by children. It involved them in the activities that takes place behind the scene. The play, Pustakadajji mattu mararakkasa was directed by Mounesh Vishwakarma. It was staged for three days in five schools and a public stage performance covering two schools in a day.

The play was staged in Aryapu School, Little Flower Higher Primary School, Koornadka, Darbe, Harady Higher Primary School, Parladka School, Sri Ramakrishna High School, Puttur and children's park of Puttur Town Municipality.

Partcipants

The play saw the active participation of children, Kavana, Vinod, Gayathri, Rekha, Anupama, Arpitha, Nityashree, Bhagyashree, Kiran Kumar, Vinaya M, Manjunath, Pooja, Shalini, Sushmitha, Yajnesh, Bharath, Kiran M, Akshay, Hema, Chaithra, Manjunath, Reetan and Tirumaleshwara of the Morarji Desai Model Residential School.

The theme of was apt as children's theatre movement is gaining momentum. The movement has in fact also attracted criticism that the children are moving away from theoretical education. Against this background, the play successfully bridged the gap between children's love for theatre and their interest in reading books.