Peter Pan - The stuff for kids' dreams

SMITA NIRULA on children's theatre in the capital
Hindustan Times, 2nd May 1992.

Scene he Peter Pan

Scene: A child lies in bed with the moonlight streaming across her face. A short silence after the curtain rises. A recording of the child's voice comes over the speakers.

The child (dreaming): Balloo sits by me at the dinner table, Sher Khan growls in my dreams ... my house is made of chocolate ... I fly with Peter Pan ... we leave Wendy behind ... My ship sinks and I wake up in a lovely land under the sea with mermaids and talking fish and ...

THE lights change, the set revolves to show a fantasyland where a large chocolate factory sets the backdrop for a blue lagoon where mermaids sing 'each to each' and Peter Pan and Hook continue their eternal fight.

Enter downstage left, child in bed. Child wakes up and looks around in amazement. She jumps out of bed and joins Peter Pan in fighting the good fight with Hook.

Somewhere offstage, an alarm clock rings shrilly. The set shatters into a million fragments as the child crawls back into her bed and goes to sleep sucking her thumb. There is a dim light on the bed, which rolls back into its original position while the rest of the stage revolves in darkness. The insistent shrill of the alarm becomes loud and strident. The child wakes up rubbing her eyes and looking around her totally disoriented, miserable and unhappy because it was only a dream.

End of scenario.

On such dreams Kids World built. Starting from an idea to make a child's birthday party a little more interesting than the usual magic shows and video movies relied upon for entertainment, Bubbles Sabharwal and Lushin Dubey decided to involve their children in a rendering of Charlotte's Web.

Using the skeleton of a house under construction as the stage and the lawns to seat the audience, Charlotte's Web grew in stature as other children wanted to jump onto the bandwagon. The audience of about 150 people comprised parents of participating children, relatives and neighbours. And so Kids World was born, enmeshing other children in its creation.

KEEPING in mind the growing need for creative outlets for the searching and questioning minds of children today, Bubbles and Lushin decided to continue pushing the ball. Charlotte's Web had started rolling with Roald Dahl's Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The shows were performed in a couple of schools and Willie Wonka was picked up by Doordarshan for a telecast.

Leading off from Willie Wonka came a critically acclaimed production of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, also telecast by Doordarshan. Commercial sponsorship permitted Kids World to take this production on an outstation tour of Calcutta and Jameshedpur.

This success was followed by their latest production, Peter Pan. Having commanded critical and public appreciation in its first run, Peter Pan comes back to Delhi audiences from May 8-13 at Kamani. Lushin and Bubbles are currently working on the possibilities of doing an adaptation of The Little Mermaid entitled The Small Mermaid.

Backed by technical support from a team of professionals which include a Bombay based choreographer, a band of musicians, make-up artistes and a costume designer from the NSD, the two ladies design their own sets and lights.

With 30-40 youngsters ranging from the ages of 4-17 years and including children from varied backgrounds, Kids World provides a much-needed outlet for a child's active mind. There is an attempt to create a sense of values, a sympathy and understanding of all strata of people, belonging, togetherness and a respect for discipline and hard work. Casts in Kids World productions have included children with physical and mental disabilities.