The fine art of story-telling

After the success of their last two productions The Ungrateful Man based on a tale from the Panchatantra and The Magic Drum based on a short story by Sudha Murthy, Bangalore Little Theatre is back with a new interactive theatrical performance Ali O Baba.

It aims at reinventing the lost art of story-telling for a young generation who is more oriented towards electronic entertainment.
This time around the  series of short plays directed by Shashank Purshotam and Priya Venkatesh is based on the classic One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
All the obligatory characters from fairy tales are there. Kings and queens, asses and rascals, story-tellers and magicians with their bag of tricks and common folk.
The premise of the production is to engage the young audience in the plot and the action, right from the word go. Bearing this directive in mind, the cast moves freely on and off stage organising games (like the Queen of Sheeba), involving the enthusiastic children present and weaving it into the storyline.

The ubiquitous magic drum from the last production makes its presence felt yet again and is used as an integral part of the story.
“This production will engage young audiences in a refreshingly different, fun and interactive format with touches of contemporary humour. It will also help raise funds for projects at Dream a Dream, a non profit organisation that conducts programmes for underprivileged children,” said Vikram Talreja, director of  Dream a Dream.
The play Ali O Baba will be staged from October 30 to November 1 at Guru Nanak Bhavan, Vasanthnagar. There will also be special morning and afternoon shows for schools. For more information, visit www.aliobaba.com