Potterheads dive into the magic world

Fifteen-day-long workshop culminates in successful stage play of the first book

Engrossing: Children enacting a scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Visakhapatnam.

From unravelling mysteries of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to watching Harry grapple with a past that refuses to stay where it belonged, the magical world of Harry Potter was brought alive by children through a string of six scenes at an hour-long play held at The Park on Saturday.

The event was a culmination of a 15-day workshop organised by The Launch Pad in the city. The curious, funny and energetic bunch of children enacted each scene from the plot of the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , with earnestness and an enthusiasm in a way that perfectly presented the suspense-filled magical moments of the much-loved story. Sri Vennela, 14, who played the characters of Hermione Granger and Molly Weasley, was ecstatic after the workshop. “I had loads of fun being a part of this ‘magical’ world. I loved playing the characters. This was a dream come true for every Potterhead,” she said. For Ananya Nannapaneni, who played the character of professor McGonagall, the workshop came as a way to live the world of her favourite characters. The three main characters of Harry, Hermione and Ron were played by four different pairs in every scene.

‘No mean feat’

Bringing together the story of Harry Potter within an hour-long play with six scenes was no mean task for the trainers. “One of the first challenges was that there were quite a few who hadn’t read any book of JK Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series). During the initial one week, we read out parts of the books for the activities and tasks so that the children got an understanding of the characters, the scenes and the essence of magical realism,” said Sangitaa Sehgall from The Launch Pad who spearheaded the workshop along with her team.

‘Quidditch’ tournament

Each of the participants made their own broom and magic wand with a little help from the trainers. Earlier, a ‘Quidditch’ tournament and treasure hunt was conducted wherein the children got a chance to “live” the chapters of the book.

During the workshop, the children were divided into four ‘houses’ of the Hogwart’s School of Wizardy. “The idea was to enable them to learn the values the Potter books celebrate – hard work, teamwork and courage,” Ms Sehgall said. According to the trainers of The Launch Pad, an organisation that has been conducting theatre workshops from the past eight years in the city, Harry Potter was the most challenging among the many that they had done so far. “It demanded lots of time management, research, imagination and creativity to make every session meaningful,” they said.