“Let’s all go to the forest where the story takes place. A song plays and the lion, the king of the forest, enters, only to find all animals looking sad because humans had taken away an elephant calf, the darling of the forest....”
The children are all ears as Bhadrasree narrates the story of a man-animal conflict on the penultimate day of Bharatham, a 21-day children’s camp at Prasanth Narayanan Kalam, Kannammoola. Sivadas Poyilkavu, children’s playwright, is leading a session on theatre for participants. The children were told to narrate their own story and enact it at the valedictory function of the camp.
Bhadrasree, a Plus One student, is excited as her story is approved. “I developed it with two other camp mates, Pranav P Kumar and Nirmal Jeemon,” she says. She is among the 59 students participating in Bharatham, which began at Kalam on April 7.
Sivadas Poyilkavu (left) and Prasanth Narayanan
With theatre emerging as a tool for personality development, theatre camps have become integral to summer camps. In addition to Prasanth Narayanan and Sivadas, the classes at Kalam were led by seasoned artistes and performers such as TM Abraham, Sabu Thomas, SP Sreekumar, Balasankar Mannath, Bibindas Parappanagadi and Raja Warrier.
“Our children are born in a stress-filled world and the stress takes away their freedom. Art is the best way to handle the situation and theatre is effective as it is a blend of many art forms,” says Prasanth, honorary chairman of Kalam.
At the camp, the experts dealt with topics related to theatre, such as “concentration, attention, creation, recreation, observation, time, space and action, flexibility and control of body, voice and mind, rhythm-movement-and music.... The children may or may not become better actors after the sessions, but the sessions will help in moulding them into well-rounded individuals. It is all about taking away the rigidity of their minds and setting them free,” Prasanth explains.
- Founded in 2015, Prasanth Narayanan Kalam has three divisions — Kalam acting school, Kalam Theatre and Repertory and Kalam Periodicals and Publications. According to Kala Savithri, managing director of Kalam, the school will commence its weekly theatre course for children, ‘Kuttikkalam’, from this month. The 10-month course will be held on Sundays from 9.30 am to 1 pm. Admissions begin on May 5 and classes will begin from May 11. Contact: 8593033111
The camp, for children in the age group of six to 16, had participants from in and around the city and districts of Pathanamthitta, Kollam, Alappuzha, Thrissur, Palakkad and Wayanad. “This is a first-of-its-kind experience for me. I enjoy acting and the sessions here have motivated me a lot,” says Sreehari S, a high school student from Thrissur. “Actually, I hope to act in films one day and theatre might be a stepping stone towards that,” he says with a chuckle, after entertaining the group with his version of a folklore about Odiyans.
Ananthu M, a class seven student, adds: “I am getting exposed to theatre for the first time. It’s exciting to be a different person on stage.”
The world of stories
Having worked with children for over a decade now, Sivadas, an English teacher at Thiruvangad HSS, Kozhikode, points out that theatre has moved away from mugging up dialogues and acting.
Participants of Bharatham children’s camp at Prasanth Narayanan Kalam
“Both physical and mental aspects are taken into consideration. It is at these camps that the children open up, which rarely happens inside a classroom. Here they make their own stories, share it with each other and develop a script,” he says.
Sivadas adds that theatre instils confidence in a performer. “Drama is an art of conflict. While they are involved in creating a production, children encounter several obstacles, which they have to overcome. This will help them to stand up against all odds in real life,” he says.
