Nothing delights children more when they see a houseful of audience totally engaged in seeing the theatrical production that they have worked so diligently on. Young children of Rauri village, near Dharampur, Shimla, will take the stage as they perform ‘Kazi Ji Ka Bhesh’ and ‘Jungle Jatakam’ at the historical Gaiety Theatre on 14th and 15th January, 2023 at 3 pm. This production is being brought to you by ABHIVYAKTI, an independent body that was formed in 1994 to present outstanding theatre productions all over India. Since July 2021, they have been producing regular theatre productions with children of Rauri village. During this period children have been attending theatre lessons along with learning about various activities that undergo to produce such a play.
It is highly commendable that these children will be performing for Shimla audience for the first time in a proscenium auditorium and that too at the Gaiety Theatre. Until now they have been performing in open spaces in and around their villages. It will be an unforgettable experience for these young children and may even become a deciding factor for some to pursue this form of art seriously if further encouraged.
It is noteworthy to mention that during the production children themselves made all the props and few even helped in stitching of the costumes.
The first play, ‘Kazi Ji Ka Bhesh’, is originally a Gujrati folk play which has been adapted into local Pahadi dialect incorporating few elements of Dhaja, a local folk form. The play is about a corrupt village magistrate and villagers, through which local problems like monkey menace, hygiene and cleanliness and gender equality are dealt with through local humour, folk music and dance. Towards the end, the magistrate realises his mistakes and transforms into an honest citizen. The village folks welcome him to their community and the play ends with a finale of Pahadi dance and music.
The second play, ‘Jungle Jatakam’ is an adaptation of Dr. Kashi Nath Singh’s short story of the same name. It is about day-to-day happenings in the forest due to which human survival is possible. In contrast, it is also about man’s greed which leads to deforestation and eventually becomes a threat to the human survival itself. For this, children wrote poems themselves which were later composed and incorporated in the play to emphasise the importance of environment protection. This is a movement-oriented performance.
A must-see production to definitely encourage young children and give them the boost to understand that there is more to life than just books and studies. Life is full of colours and this production will just prove that.
