Acting for a Cause

A sleeping boy dreams of a life in the year 2070. He finds a genie and wishes for water. The genie begs his pardon and says he can fulfil any wish but that. The genie then takes the boy on a tour where the two of them witness a world in which water is kept under lock and people fight tooth and nail for their share. While at first this may sound like a simple children’s tale,the story raises real concerns about water shortage in the future,an issue portrayed brilliantly in a musical by students of Abhinav English Medium School.

On Saturday,300 students from eight schools in the city brought up pertinent environmental issues through dance-drama performances at the Environment Arts Theatre Festival at Balgandharva Rangmandir. Aimed at increasing awareness of environemental problems amongst students,the festival featured performances by children aged between 2 to 15 years. The participating schools were Ahilyabai Holkar School,Raman Baug School,Indira School,Bharati Vidyapeeth English Medium School,Gurukul,Dhaire Deaf and Mute School,Abhinav English Medium School and Shri Swami Samartha School.The performances were themed on the five elements in nature – air,water,fire,earth and metal. For instance,Ahilyabai Holkar students portrayed the many facets to fire; as an auspicious sign at a wedding,as a destructive factor and as an uncontrollable force through a ‘tandav’ performance.

Other performances highlighted changes to human lifestyle following industrial development. One performance pointed out how tissue paper had never been a part of human culture earlier but now threatened the existence of trees. Some of the stories told even had happy endings. Such as the story of a village suffering from the adverse effects of industrialisation. In this story,the industrial ventures realise the importance of the environment and begin to correct the imbalance in nature. Every performance included live music,dance and drama and was choreographed and directed by the children and their teachers.

Five-year-old Vaibhav Ranade,a member of the winning team from Abhinav Vidyalaya is thrilled about winning and seems sincere in his belief in the need for water conservation. “I always shut the taps in my house and ask my friends to do so too,” he says.

“The festival aims to make children think about the environment,to make it a part of their lives. Once you perform something onstage,it becomes a part of you and you never forget it. That is what we’re trying to do here,” says Abhishek Kawitkar,president,Tree Public Foundation,the NGO that organised the event. Sponsored by the Vinod and Saryu Doshi Foundation,the event is an annual affair, currently in its third edition.