National Children's Theatre Festival
June 1 - 7, 2011 Palakkad, Kerala
- Renu Ramanath
e-mail: renuramanath@hotmail.com

May 29, 2011

A seven day long National Children's Theatre Festival organised by Navarang, a children's theatre group based in Palakkad, Kerala with the support of the Ministry of Culture, New Delhi, will be held from June 1 – 7, 2011 at Palakkad.

Children's theatre groups had been active in Kerala ever since the beginning of modernism in Kerala theatre that started from the late 1960s. Prof. G Sankara Pillai, the pioneer of a modern sensibility in the contemporary theatre scene of Kerala was also the champion of children's theatre, having written dozens of plays for children. He also advocated the formation of theatre groups and workshops dedicated exclusively for children. The presence and intervention of veterans like Prof. S Ramanujam, who has been active in the Kerala theatre scene for the past three or four decades, have also contributed to the children's theatre in Kerala.

However, it is very rarely that samples of children's theatre from outside Kerala are being performed here. This festival, the first of its kind organised by Navarang, will showcase 13 plays from different parts of India, including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Manipur, besides Malayalam plays from Kerala.
Telugu play 'Katakata Desam Tikamaka Raju'
Kannada play 'Giddu Tailor Na Saahasagalu'
The festival will be organised by Prasanna, the well-known theatre personality from Karnataka on June 1, at Municipal Town Hall, Palakkad. The plays range from re-tellings of classics like Sophocles's 'Oedipus Rex,' to adaptations of an Oscar Wilde story or Rabindranath Tagore story or Vijay Tendulkar plays. Regional adaptations of popular plays like a Telugu version of the Bhartendu Harishchandra's 'Andher Nagari Chhopat Raja,' are also part of the festival. The Assamese play 'Xan,' (The Shadow) is based on an English play written by Thntia Toppdip, a writer from Thailand. It tells of a boy discovering the island of 'Shadows' and learning that shadows, destined to follow every men and women, are also forced to suffer when the humans do evil.
Malayalam play 'Veettilekku'
Manipuri play 'Uchida Amuk Hanjinlu'
The Malayalam plays include 'The Home Coming,' a Malayalam adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's famous short story, 'Kalanju Poya Chiri,' (The Laughter that was Lost) a play presented by the children of Devasrayam, Palakkad, a voluntary organisation for the mentally challenged students, 'Bobby,' Malayalam adaptation of the Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar's play 'Shadkala Govinda Marar,' a play presented by Rangaprahbath, Venjaramoodu, one of the oldest children's theatre groups in Kerala, 'Pakshippattu,' a Malayalam adaptation of the Kannada writer Vaidehi's play 'Hakki Haadu,' directed by the well-known theatre person KG Krishnamoorthy from Karnataka and 'Kunjichirakukal' (Tiny Wings) written by Kavalam Narayana Paniker.
Rehearsal of 'Shadkala Govinda Marar' at Rangaprabhath, Thiruvananthapuram
As a precursor to the festival, a one month long theatre workshop for children has been taking place at Navarang from May 1. The initial part of the workshop was led by the veteran theatre person and expert on children's theatre, Prof. S Ramanujam with Sathyabhama, a New Delhi-based theatre person hailing from Kerala taking over after one week. The workshop production, a Malayalam adaptation of Vijay Tendulkar's 'The Cyclist' directed by Sathyabhama will also be staged at the festival.

The schedule of the festival:

June 1
Inauguration
'The Home Coming' (Malayalam / Playwright: Rabindranath Tagore / Dir: KV Ganesh / Rangachethana, Thrissur)
'Kalanju Poya Chiri' (Malayalam / Playwright: Prof. S Ramanujam / Dir: Kannan, Palakkad / Devasrayam, Palakkad)

June 2
'Bobby' (Malayalam / Playwright: Vijay Tendulkar / Dir: Maniprasad / Calicut University School of Drama, Thrissur).
'The Cyclist' (Malayalam / Playwright: Vijay Tendulkar / Dir: Sathyabhama / Navarang, Palakkad)

June 3
'Shadkala Govinda Marar' (Malayalam / Playwright: Vibhu Pirappankode / Dir: K.S.Geetha / Rangaprabhath, Venjaramoodu, Thiruvananthapuram)
'Pakshippattu' (Malayalam / Playwright: Vaidehi / Dir: KG Krishnamoorthy / Navarang, Palakkad)

June 4
'Katakata Desom Tikamaka Raju' (Telugu / Playwright: Bhartendu Harishchandra / Dir: Basheer / CAMS Hyderabad)
'Kunchi Chirakukal' (Malayalam / Playwright: Kavalam Narayana Paniker / Dir: KV Ganesh / Navarang, Palakkad)

June 5
'Giddu Tailor Na Saahasagalu' (Kannada / Playwright: BT Desai / Dir: Bhagavathi M / Koshika (R), Udupi, Karnataka)
'Uruvavum Ullavum' (Tamil / based on Oscar Wilde's 'The Selfish Giant / Dir: Girija Ravi / Aranga Sree, Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu)

June 6
'Uchida Amuk Hanjilu' (Manipuri / Playwright: Nilladhwaja Khuman / Dir: L.Randhoni Devi / People's Arts & Dramatic Association, Manipur)
'Oedipus Rex' (Malayalam / Dir: KA Nandajan / Navarang, Palakkad)

June 7
'Xan' (Assam / Playwright: Hillol Kumar Pathak / Dir: Probin Saikia / Assam Sishu Natya Vidyalaya, Guwahati, Assam)