Guwahati: To popularise children theatre in the country, with a special focus on Northeast region, Guwahati Sishu Natya Vidyalaya is organising the 8th National Children Theatre Festival (NCTF) this year at Rabindra Bhawan, Ambari in Guwahati, Assam from January 20 to 23.
Theatre groups from all across the country, including Assam, Mumbai, Assam, Kerala, Bhopal and Delhi, are going to participate in the four-day affair.
Aiming to develop children theatre in the country, especially in the Northeastern region, the theatre festival will also act as a tool for educating young children.
The event will provide a common platform where children of the nation as well as other countries can make a creative connection and also develop a bond to preserve diversities and culture, said an organiser.
Moreover, it will also provide an opportunity to the children, especially from NE, to shift their paradigm, and to initiate a positive mindset, the organiser added.
The festival will showcase different plays by children. Here are a few of them:
Play: Tik Tak Tales (Mumbai)
Tik Tak Tales, a play for all ages, celebrates stories, music, family bond and nature. Set in a fair, the play revolves around a band of local musicians, an over-anxious fair organiser and two adorable villagers, Tik and Tak.
Play: Gunotsav (Goalpara)
It’s a story of a primary school in a backward village. The only teacher of the school imparts education to the children to his best with his limited knowledge. The TET teacher had to leave for NRC work in another government order leaving the students in utter crisis. Their education stands jeopardised again.
Play: Biral Topaswee (Darrang, Assam)
It is a well-known fact that cats and mice are no friends. The play, Biral Topaswee, is about this traditional conflict between the two. It presents the intricacies of a rivalry between a cat and a family of mice.
Play: The Old Man (Delhi)
The play opens with the explanation that the fisherman, who is named Vodai, has gone 84 days without catching a fish. Vodai is considered the worst form of unluckiness. In fact, he is so unlucky that his young apprentice, Rongmon, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man and been ordered to fish with more successful fishermen. Still dedicated to the old man, however, the boy visits Vodai’s hut each night, hauling back his fishing gear, getting him food and discussing about Vodai’s past stories and his life journey.
Play: Kaggaraaj (Bhopal)
It is the story of a crow who always shows off, rushes for new things presented by the market, does not care for his own things, cames to eat the children of a bird and then what happens next with him, he also never thought…..
Play: Voice of Silence (Guwahati)
“Voice of Silence” consists of non-verbal performances on different topics based on the burning issues of the Indian society. It reflects these issues by showcasing short stories through the medium of body movements and facial expressions without any word being spoken.
Play: Tikani Rojar Sadhu (Guwahati)
Though the story is set in an ancient era of kings and queens, it depicts today’s political and social condition of the world. People with power and position fail to serve the poor and deprived and the society at large. This story tells the same to the mass but in a musical and humorous way.
Play: Beli Olowar Khadhu (Guwahati)
The earth is nothing without the Sun. The sun gives life to all living beings. Ever wondered what life would be like without the Sun ? Let us find out in the play named Beli Olowar khadhu.
Play: English Medium (Kerala)
The play revolves around a young child named Rajesh. The play begins with the dream of Rajesh, in which he encounters two imaginary characters who represent his subconscious thoughts. These two imaginary characters greet each other as Boss and only Rajesh can see them. In his dreams, the imaginary characters force him to rethink the studied lessons. They also threaten him to use English language and also to adopt western culture in his behaviour. They teach him to sneeze, answer the questions, etc. for his admission in a highly reputed English medium school.