Penned by Communications Manager Tanay
I had previously conducted a Theatre workshop along with Manuel Sir (Program Manager, Expressive Arts Practitioner, Child Protection Officer) in last year’s Summer Camp with a few children. It was one of the most fulfilling creative experiences of my life, and I was amazed by how uninhibited the children were compared to myself and my friends at that age. The main difficulty was the language barrier. However I was much more confident this year as I had been working at Sharana for a year and was confident that the children could understand me, even if they couldn’t speak English very well.
This year Mr. Manuel and myself conducted the activities in an organic way. There was only a broad plan and it was adjusted based on how I felt the children were feeling on a given day. I would often ask them what they felt like doing that day. The main goal was to make sure they enjoy the activity and that it never feels regimented like a class or that they think I am an authority figure.
We started with playing charades as an icebreaker and to free the body. Over the days the charades became more elaborate. This was to make their movements and expressions more precise. The next step was to have small teams of 3-4 and have them write and perform their own silent skits. No direction or story was given, except a few instructions on how to stand on stage, such as always facing the audience. It was heartening to see how self-driven they were during the activity and sometimes wanted to continue even when I was ready to end the activity for that day.
Finally, for the cultural program, we performed an abridged adaptation of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. This story was chosen because I noticed that they enjoyed performing stories involving ghosts. I encouraged this since it can be comical, but we made sure to not make it terrifying for the younger children and always keep the tone light-hearted. The story was also organically modified to fit the cultural context, and we changed Christmas to Deepavali and the children incorporated many local specificities into the story and mis-en-scène.It also has a good message.
After recounting to them the story, and assigning characters, I asked them to work on one scene at a time in groups. What is very remarkable is that myself and Manuel sir gave zero direction, and all the words and scene movements were decided by the children themselves. They were very spontaneous and enjoyed the practices. I was not fussed about the final performance since the goal was not to have a perfect show, but to make sure they enjoy the experience as a whole. Even though I don’t think the audience was able to follow the story, it was enough for me that the front row of children was in splits.
I was also able to conduct a few sessions in Angalakuppam this year. The first two sessions were charades, just like the Social Centre. For the last day, I asked them to come up with a 2-minute skit in small groups of 3-4. It never occurred to me to do this with words, but since they asked if they could speak during the skit I allowed it. They were given two prompts. The story had to either have a character opening a door or plucking a flower and smelling it. This was supposed to be an exercise, but I asked them to do it outdoors in the lovely yard of the Community Centre. I did not plan it, but all the younger children outside immediately sat down to watch and it became a show.
After all the groups had performed, Program Manager Mr. Prakash asked a few staff members including myself to perform a skit. We performed a short mime about a thief breaking into a house, only to be driven away by its bizarre inhabitants: A sleepwalker, A woman who flails her arms violently in her sleep while finding a more comfortable position, and a man who hugs him thinking he is his teddy bear. It was a hit and it was done again by younger children, and then by a group of adolescents.
Like last year, it was a great experience for me and extremely rewarding to see how much the children enjoyed it. I hope that the experience of performing in front of an audience gives them more confidence. I also hope that it remains a happy memory for them.
I would like to give a special thank you to all those who assisted me with the rehearsals and performance.
