Laughing their way to school

The students will present the play with the help of the theatre group,Expressions,under the direction of Aarvind Mittal. The play will also be staged on August 6 and 7 at the Nehru Memorial Hall,Camp.

Expressions theatre group has already staged Fiddler in the Roof in Canada,Bangalore,Hydrabad as well as Pune earlier. “The choir and the ghost scenes in the play involve many students from the school. The choir scene is very important because the play is basically a musical with 11 songs,” says Mittal. “Working with children was a wonderful experience. They are so eager to learn and they listen to you without showing any attitude,” he adds.

Besides students,the play will be performed by many first-time actors,along with a few experienced hands such as Rustom Irani and Siddharth Kulkarni. Mittal himself plays the lead role of Tevye,a jewish milkman. The play is set in Tsarist,Russia,during the Russian Revolution of 1905.

“I believe I have put my talent to good use for this show. It’s a charity show to help the school raise funds for a new school building. I know the school provides free education to these children who are not from strong financial backgrounds. I am happy to be a part of a such a noble cause,” says Mittal.

Dona Maria D’costa,a commerce student from Class 12,who plays the role of a ghost,says,“I am supposed to spook the audience in the ghost scene. I was quite comfortable with singing and acting during the rehearsals but I don’t know how I will do in front of 900 people.” On the other hand,Nazareth Lobo,who is playing the character of Modka,the inn-keeper,says,”I have acted in plays earlier but not in such a big production as this one. I have learnt a lot,but there’s a lot of pressure as well.”