International theatre festival for children launches online

It will feature national and international performances from India, Ireland and South Korea across genres of toddler's theatre, object theatre, storytelling and dance theatre.

New Delhi: Organised by Theatre I-Entertainment Trust and supported by Korean Cultural Centre India, Pitara International TYA Festival 2020 is born from the idea of celebrating childhood. In its second year, the festival will bring together five professional performances for audiences from December 19-23, on a digital platform. It will feature national and international performances from India, Ireland and South Korea across genres of toddler’s theatre, object theatre, storytelling and dance theatre.

The festival aspires to provide quality theatre for children, in the comfort and safety of their own homes. In this new online avatar, the performances will be premiering online and will be available to watch anytime for the next 72 hours. The festival can be seen at india.korean-culture.org/en.

According to the organisers, Pitara is meant to ignite the moments of exploration and wonder for children and encourage adults to rediscover the child in them and relive the moments which are getting sidelined due to the pandemic. Pitara does this through digital theatre – a mode of learning by enquiry, experiencing and evidencing without fear of any physical contact with outsiders

Hwang Il-yong, director of Korean Cultural Centre India says, “We have decided to support this event for encouraging children to overcome the difficult times, and nourishing them with cultural contents in terms of their hearts and souls. We are cheering and supporting the artists, at the same time not to be discouraged in their journey to nourish children, the future of humanity.”

Here’s when to catch the plays for children:

Yeh Dunia Rangeen by Theatre I Entertainment Trust, 19 December 11 AM, Age group 1+ to 5 years, Non-Verbal

The play is about colours. Through body movements and sounds primary and secondary colours are being played, and lived through characters also. The colours are being displayed on stage in abstract form of movements and concrete form of bringing materials of different textures on stage. A mandala or rangoli is created throughout the storyline and the play culminates with inviting children to play with colors.

The Bird by Miduelle Theatre South Korea, 20 December 11 AM, Age group 1+ to 5 years, Non-Verbal

A crane finds a stray baby bird. They fly around and meet various other birds – Sparrow, Owl, Eagle, Hen etc – while looking for the mother bird. The crane asks them if they know the mother bird, but nobody has a clue. After sometime, at the change of season, the crane has to go back north but they haven’t yet found the mom. “The Bird” is a non-verbal depiction of this storyline and is told through movements and music. The laundry hanging on the line becomes a crane. Plastic bag becomes the flock of sparrows. What might become of the towel and socks? The performance is based on the art of Object Theatre, using objects from our daily lives, and the audience will also witness the graceful movements based on traditional Korean dances.

The Water Seed by Gillo Repertory Theatre and ThinkArts, 21 December 11 AM, Age group 6+, Hindi

When the rains did not come, the young people of the village went in search of water. One of them brought back a water seed. Adapted from an adivasi story, ‘The Water Seed’ is a performance made with materials and objects. We hope that this adaptation will trigger discussions about water, the global water crisis, water conservation and our relation with water, as individuals as well as a community, country and species. Originally produced under the ThinkArts Grant for creating digital content for young audiences.

The Magical Journey by Joe Brennan, 22 December 11 AM, Age group 6+, English

Journey through magical worlds filled with incredible creatures and wonderful characters with renowned storyteller Joe Brennan, a storyteller, playwright and theatre maker from Wexford, Ireland. Joe will bring these worlds to life by weaving a kaleidoscope tapestry of evocative imagery, charged emotions and perceptive observations.

The Mermaid & The Goblin, 23 December 11 AM, Age group 10+, English

A dystopic world. Plastic pollution has encroached the ocean. Arial, the Little mermaid is now the only hope for the ocean creatures who are enslaved by Ursula – the mop, who is not doing her job of mopping and has now become even more powerful than ever! How does Arial do it? It’s for you to see. Also see the entire ocean re-created in all its glory with ordinary home objects. The performance combines the magical art forms of Object Puppetry wherein ordinary objects come alive, and Puppet Theatre! The play also includes a very special Object Theatre sequence. Object theatre is the unique art-form wherein objects remain what they are to tell a story.