Bangalore International School, recently performed a stage adaptation of the movie Madagascar at the Good Shepherd Auditorium. The play was an example of how a colourful wrapper doesn’t ensure a good package.

Called Mada-hoo-ha?  the play was a true stage adaptation and told the tale of four animal friends in the New York Zoo who accidentally land up in Madagascar. The movie is a laugh riot; despite being short, the film has great one-liners and a simple story with loveable characters.

On the face of it, the play seemed to have everything considering it looked great. But it truly failed in delivering good acting. The energy levels of the actors was so low that it was hard to believe that these were young children on stage. The dances were choreographed by Lourd Vijay’s Dance Studio and the sequences were beautifully choreographed and flawlessly executed (technically), but with absolutely no energy! The funny dialogues were inaudible including the last punch line of the play. For some reason, the children also attempted American accents, something they had to struggle to keep up through the entire play (except for a few who actually did have an accent).

Jonathan as Marty the Zebra was the only saving grace in the lead cast- he had more energy than the entire cast put together, his dialogues were audible and accent in place.  The Lemurs, played by very young children did a commendable job and Nikhil and Riya as the king and Maurice are worth a mention.

The play had stunning costumes and great use of stage space - credit to Director Veena Appiah and her team.