After a week of Kannada theatre, which showcased ‘Gumma banda gumma,’ about 800 children from schools across the city enjoyed and learnt about saving the environment from this simple tale.

‘The first leaf’ originally written in Marathi by Sriranga Godbole was translated into English by Padmavathi Rao, who also directed the play. Just as with ‘Gumma banda gumma’ before it, the audience formed an integral interactive part of the whole drama.

Besides the applause, the whistles that dotted the performance, the children also participated in the impromptu quiz at the end of the show and prizes were given to the winners.

More effective

While the kids enjoyed the humourous tone that the play was set in, their teachers were also a happy lot. Syeeda Banu of Cambridge School said “These initiatives are important because the message is more effectively sent to the children. We as teachers have been teaching them about the environment and how important it is to protect it, but this play caught their attention better than our lessons.” Anees Fathima of Gem school also seconded her opinion and added that there should be many such events and also cover a wider subject that the children need to learn.

Emulate

Sathishvari Ramesh and Geetha Ashok from Chinmaya Vidyalaya added that the schools also need to replicate these efforts in their own premises and this event had given them ideas that could help them teach the children better.

Month long

The DHiE Theatre Festival is a month long joint effort with Ranga Shankara under AHA! programme to help build theatre appreciation among the children.