Magical world takes over Prithvi

This year's edition of the Prithvi Theatre Festival has included children's plays for the first time ever, in its line-up

Magical world takes over Prithvi

The Prithvi Theatre Festival is back after a gap of three years, and this time around with a special segment dedicated to children’s plays produced by local theatre groups. While Prithvi has regularly focused on children through workshops and shows, this is for the first time that its annual festival incorporated six children’s plays into its line-up.

In the Cat House

Three of the plays have already been staged, while three more Kyun Kyun Ladki, Peter Pan and In The Cat House will be staged over the next three days. Kyun Kyun Ladki, directed by Shaili Sathyu is inspired by Mahasweta Devi’s picture storybook, The Why-Why Girl, and takes one into a magical world of questions.

Akvarious Productions’ Peter Pan, directed by Hidayat Sami recreates the Neverland where Peter, Wendy and the Lost Boys join hands to beat the evil Captain Cook. The Sananda Mukhopadhyaya-directed Cat House, in contrast, tells the adventures of a young kid who be-friends an un-friendly magical cat.

When asked about the motivation for the festival team to include children’s plays, Kunal Kapoor, director, Prithvi Theatre, said that Prithvi had always focused on children’s theatre and making them a part of the festival was a natural choice.

“In the past, we have organised puppetry festivals for children, and for many years, we’ve had Summertime with Prithvi, a season of workshops and plays for children held in the summer holidays.

This year’s festival is concentrating on local theatre groups and productions — and many of them have done productions for children,” adds Kapoor. “This, combined with the fact that in 2012, Diwali holidays combined with the festival, we programmed a selection of children’s plays wherever possible,” he added.