“Theatre shows are just meant for grown-ups highlighting the deep topics that children cannot understand.” Breaking this mindset of people, Gurgaon Summer Theatre festival has organised shows for toddlers. Yes, literally “Kids”. The first show that was conducted last Sunday was a Japanese folktale on the importance of Angithi (traditional brazier used for cooking).
ALSO READ: This Father’s day, strengthen your bond with these movies
“We have performed these plays individually, but this is the first time that these stories created especially for toddlers have come together as a festival,” says Imran Khan, festival director. The festival consists of three plays, the first play, Three Oriental Tales was staged last Sunday and the coming two Sundays will have performances of two plays — My Room My World (for 2 years and above) and Yeh Duniya Rangeen (for one year and above).
Performing for adults is not easy, but delivering the content for kids is just 10 times harder. “Since there is a lot of information involved, we thought we shouldn’t do a pure narration. Therefore, we added different costumes and visuals to keep the interest of children alive because this audience has the shortest span of attention,” says Khan.
“The idea was to introduce children with stories that not just entertain them but also introduce them to new cultures” adds Khan. Providing knowledge of diverse places and their customs in such entertaining way is an interesting approach,
ALSO READ: Father’s Day: Dedicate these songs to your ‘daddy cool’
Kids are great at expressing their emotions, happiness, curiosity, you can see it in their eyes. Surangana Chatterjee, an actor with the group, says, “ As an actor, I felt instant happiness because the minute I came on the stage — with socks hung from my ears and walking on all fours — the kids identified me playing the character of a dog. It was pure joy to see the spark in their eyes.”
If these plays can make toddlers happy, they must be a treat for elders too.