In the fantasy world, fairies, demons, princes and princesses, flying mattresses or the magical sticks get you whatever you desire for, which forms an inevitable part of every child’s emotional life.
In the fantasy world, fairies, demons, princes and princesses, flying mattresses or the magical sticks get you whatever you desire for, which forms an inevitable part of every child’s emotional life.
Few years ago, children’s fantasy plays were very popular especially during summer holidays and though children now have access to cartoon channels and animation films 24X7, live fantasy theatre hasn’t lost its allure among children.
Sagar Lodhi who is directing a fantasy play titled Pishi Mavashi, based on eminent poet VD Karandikar’s collection of poems, said, “Since ages, children have been attracted to the fantasy world. How else would you explain the popularity of Harry Potter? Devils, kings and queens, magicians and animals have always been part of children’s imaginary world. But today’s generation is very smart as it is exposed to television and other visual mediums, thus entertaining them is not easy.” In Pishi Mavashi, the team has used lots of gimmicks and variety of interesting visuals and audio to engage the children.
Anuradha Kulkarni, who is directing the English play Snow White and Seven Dwarfs based on the classic fairytale, feels that even though children get to live their fantasy through large number of cartoons, they still like to watch their favourite characters come alive on stage. “Parents should keep in mind that fairytales are part of a child’s world and they enjoy watching them.”
However Pramod Kale, coordinator of Maharashtra Cultural Center (MCC) who has written and directed Grips plays, said that children’s plays in our country don’t do justice to the fantasy element.
“The children’s plays that are being staged lack technology and proper costumes and hence they are unable to portray the fantasy world. It’s neither enchanting nor visually appealing. Since these plays don’t have much audience, the theatre groups are not investing too much money on the gimmicks and costumes. On the other hand, Grips plays never cater to the fantasy element and they try to be realistic so that children can pick up on the learnings portrayed through the plays and can use them to solve their day-to-day problems which they face in life.”
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