Who says children’s theatre can’t be meaningful? I recently saw the delightful Story Quilt, comprising three short plays for children, staged by Gillo Repertory Theatre, at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai. They were both, stimulating and entertaining. I, the only ‘oldie’ in an audience of six-plus children accompanied by their young parents, found my co-watchers absorbing the nuances of the plays as effortlessly as me, while I laughed and clapped as much as them.
Of the three stories, Kalpana ki Cycle resonated with me in particular because it touched upon the issue of badly-maintained roads, my pet bête noire. But it was a hit with the rest of the audience as well. Set in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, the story, written by Sowmya Rajendran, and adapted, directed and acted by Purva Pathak, has little Kalpana trying to ride a cycle. But her enthusiasm hits a road-block when she gets hurt after tumbling over on a bumpy patch. Angry at the condition of the road, Kalpana seeks her brother’s help to send a video-taped complaint to the Public Works Department (PWD). Why video? Because she is only in Class 3 and cannot pen a letter. The giggles in the auditorium indicated how much the young ones in the audience identified with her predicament. When the PWD sends Kalpana a reply assuring her that the road would be repaired, together with a small, bright-red toy bicycle, the young viewers were as thrilled as her. That a child’s complaint would be taken seriously was definitely something to cheer for.
Gillo Repertory Theatre that has been staging plays for children for 15 years, taking them as seriously as the PWD in the play, was started in 2010 by Shaili Sathyu, Tanya Mahajan, Yashoda Joshi and Abir Patwardhan. The idea to build a dedicated group for children’s theatre was Shaili’s to begin with. The others got excited by it as well and together, they set a high benchmark for entertaining young adults. From their first production Suar Chala Space Ko, performed at the Horniman Circle Garden in Mumbai, they have been very particular about not compromising with the standard of production.
Boosted by the response to Suar Chala…and many more plays after that, they expanded their activities in 2017 by starting ‘Gillo on the Go’. Networking with schools, NGOs, cultural organisations, arts festivals, and other institutions in rural belts, ‘Gillo on the Go’ introduces theatre and allied arts to children in the interiors of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. This is an ongoing project and also includes workshops to discover and train local talent. Driven by the desire to create a love for theatre in children from remote areas, as much as in urban, young audiences, Gillo conceives plays that are contextual and relatable.
Catching up with the team after watching Story Quilt, I asked them to share the story of their 15-year journey with me.
“Gillo was born out of work I had done for four to five years prior to 2010,” says Shaili. “I had directed a play for IPTA Bal Manch and also conducted summer workshops at Prithvi for children for a few years. But what really spurred me into setting up a theatre group was a two-week directors’ workshop in Germany, conducted by ASSITEJ, the International Association Of Theatre For Children And Young People.” Earlier, her career plan had been to write and publish literature for children but this workshop made her change track. Watching ASSITEJ’s interaction with their young audience, the thought-provoking themes of their plays and the detailing that went into each show were a completely new experience for her. She was familiar with intense, rigorous and thought-provoking theatre for adults but to see such qualities in work for the young was extremely inspiring.
Abir adds, “As children, Shaili and I never really liked the plays we saw. We felt the magic was missing. Some of them were based on books which we felt could be done differently, in a manner that would appeal to children. That made me want to make stories come alive through theatre in a magical manner for a young audience.”
Tanya points out, “Watching our plays is sometimes a first-time experience for children; their first exposure to theatre. So, to make their experience an enriching one, we incorporate dance, music and visual elements in stage design and lighting.” In other words, they create a magical world that enthralls young ones, including those with short attention spans.
“We also incorporate relatable details,” shares Shaili. “For instance, when we performed Bal Mithai in Almora, we named the sweet shop owner Rabbuda because that was the name of the owner of New Krishna Sweets, a shop in the area the children were familiar with. This made them comfortable and identify with the play.”
Yashoda says that “Gillo started with the intention of catering for children, with their realities and their context. So, we design our productions in a way to make them multi-sensory experiences for them. However small the play, it has to have some music and movements so children are introduced to forms different from their school books and studies.”
Most of the plays Gillo stages are based on stories by writers from across India. There are also a few from other countries. Is this Gillo’s way of introducing children to literature by renowned authors like Mahasweta Devi in an entertaining manner?
“This wasn’t a conscious decision or purpose,” replies Shaili. “We took recourse to stories because we found the plays written for young audiences to be very dated. We wanted to stage contemporary subjects that children could relate to. I have been collecting children’s literature for almost 30 years; and many of the stories I have excited me as a performing artist. So, I thought, why not adapt them for the stage. Later, I discovered that it is quite common in other parts of the world, especially in the United Kingdom, to adapt children’s literature for the stage.”
Interestingly, Story Quilt included a story written by Hoda Hadadi, a writer from Iran. Adapted, directed and performed by Priyanka Kotwal, Badalon ke Saath Ek Din is about little Hoda waiting for rain. Another story, Gubu Gubu, written, directed and performed by Rupesh Sangale in Marathi, was about a farmer, Pandu, outwitting a Saheb from the city. Though this was a Mumbai audience the children were able to understand both plays and participate in them as well. They were thrilled when Hoda invited them to join her in counting their fingers and toes while waiting for the clouds to shower them with rain, and Pandu asked them to identify the crops that he grew. This was immersive theatre at its best!
If the manner in which the stories was told was engrossing, the stagecraft was fascinating. A simple, terracotta-coloured cloth panel had windows, with a white cloud lit up on one, for Hoda to gaze at impatiently. A tiny blackboard for her to do Maths on and square boxes, strewn across the stage, were the few other props that helped her pass the time. The same terracotta sheet became a display panel for pictures of crops in Gubu Gubu. Pandu’s inquisitive cow was imaginatively made from cardboard and cloth, colourfully livening up the stage. The simple way in which diverse worlds were created, with minimal props, was truly an art in itself.
The musicians on stage: Sachin Veer enhancing the drama of Pandu and Saheb’s game of one-upmanship with dholak beats, or Veer and Sahil Gangurde using innovative instruments to produce the tinkle of a bicycle bell and other sounds, or Sangale, Barkha Fatnani and Gangurde producing the pitter-patter of rain and music to accompany Hoda’s singing, complemented the light-footed movements of the actors in a way that held the children spellbound. No elaborate orchestra was needed to create drama.
One of the reasons Gillo keeps things simple is because the group travels extensively. Yashoda explains, “The set-up, costumes, props, musical instruments etc., all have to fit into suitcases that can go into the boot of a car. Team members are not allowed to carry more than one personal bag.”
While practical reasons may necessitate this kind of discipline, to be effective with minimalistic tools often requires more talent and imagination than large, spectacular productions. And the Gillo’s team is supremely talented. While Shaili, Yashoda and Tanya are architects, Abir is a professional sculptor. Add to this the fact that all of them come from families that honed their sensibilities from childhood and it’s not surprising that their plays are so well-crafted. Shaili is the daughter of filmmaker and art director M.S. Sathyu and the multi-faceted Shama Zaidi. Tanya is the daughter of late K.K. Mahajan, the celebrated cinematographer. Abir’s parents Nachiket and Jayoo Patwardhan are architects and filmmakers. Yashoda’s father, Jayant Joshi, is a painter and her grandfather is the legendary singer Bhimsen Joshi. But the four don’t like to highlight their lineage, preferring to let their own work do the talking.
“Going to art exhibitions, music and dance concerts, watching plays and reading Marathi literature was a part of daily life, when growing up,” says Yashoda. “But I thought this was the reality of every household.”
Abir says that watching his parents work on projects was amazing exposure. “Seeing what design means, how it evolves from executing thoughts on a drawing board to constructing a set or a building was a great learning graph for me,” he recalls. “The understanding of space and material that I have comes from this exposure.”
Shaili explains that it is not so much about inheriting talent from one’s parents as it is about nurturing a certain sensibility by being exposed to the arts from childhood. “Unlike some of my friends who were looked upon as weird or not so normal for choosing to be in the world of arts, creative processes were very normal in my home,” she says. “I am more grounded and sure of myself because I didn’t face these stereotypical attitudes towards artistes.”
Tanya shares a similar point of view. “In today’s world, being involved with theatre might appear foolish to many as it is fraught with risks,” she says. “But my father, through the way he lived his life, taught us that if we believe in something and want to do it, then taking the risk is both necessary and worth it. He was very creative and passionate about everything that he did. My sister and I imbibed this from him. When you do your work with zest, you enjoy what you do.”
Zest, passion and a deep love for the arts are what the Gillo quartet imbibed from their parents. Add to that their individual skills, and you get theatre that is certainly no child’s play.
Alpana Chowdhury is an independent journalist
