Catch 'em young

No child's play

Theatre and theatrical workshops have established a place in the weekend rendezvous’ of people as an alternative to movies. A new concept that has emerged is that of ‘theatre for children’. Many plays and workshops are being conducted specifically for children nowadays.

These workshops try to use the technique of ‘drama therapy’ in order to facilitate the catharsis of emotions and experiences faced by the children. This helps them gain perspective on their feelings and problems, especially those that they would feel uncomfortable to talk about or uneasy to express.

Suman Bharti, a national level theatre artiste, conducts workshops for children using drama therapy. “I use theatre as a tool of communication to recognise the concerns that these children have,” she says. As a trained counsellor, she uses various reflective games and exercises to help bring out the pressing issues that many children face.

“One of the games we play is called ‘A big wind blows’, where the children talk about who or what the wind blows for, like it blows for people who cried last week or for people who are sad. It opens up a gamut of sharing,” she explains.

Once the children have warmed up, a play is put together by culminating all the ideas and experiences of the participating children. She says, “Sometimes we find that one play does not capture it all, so we have two or even three.

Later, the parents are invited to watch the children perform.” 13-year-old Aditya, a participant, says, “We had activities in which we were divided into groups and given a word. We then came up with our own interpretations and acted it out and finally decided one or two topics. Then the script was made by naturally adding our experiences and how we would go about acting in that situation.”

Through the play, light is thrown upon a wide range of issues from how the children feel when someone calls them a liar to how they feel when being subject to bullying. It also highlights the pleasurable emotions like happiness and love. “It creates a solidarity amidst the seclusion that exists,” she adds.

Seven-year-old Avantika Narayan talks about what she learnt from the workshop, “The play I was in, was about what we should do in particular situations. We always have only one plan, but it is important to have a backup plan. So now, I can use what others said during the play as my backup plan.”

Her mother, Vidya Narayan, says, “It’s very thought-provoking to watch the children open up and express themselves through their own script. It is also interactive and makes you think long after you have watched the play. In one of the plays about bullying, we saw the various situations that we couldn’t even think of in which children face bullying. It makes you rethink about your way of parenting.” Through these workshops and the art of theatre, a lot can be unravelled for both the parents and the children.