In the last few months, the City has witnessed many children’s productions where little ones with a lot of enthusiasm performed to packed audiences. The scene may not be new in the City as every year, more and more children are getting into theatre and musicals and giving performances that can match most shows put up by adults. This trend is also attributed to the way in which the parents have started seeing the importance of such activities in the growth of their children.
Many parents and educators believe that theatre or musicals are a good way of getting children involved in culture and at the same time gain confidence.
Katheleen, a parent whose child recently performed in a musical, says that being a part of an event like this has given her child a sense of responsibility.
“When it comes to being a part of big theatre productions, which are performed before a live audience and involve people other than their parents and teachers, children immediately understand the gravity of the situation and become more involved in the activity. These are things you don’t generally see otherwise and slowly they start to adapt these things in other parts of their life as well,” she explains.
Many also believe that theatre also helps build confidence in children. Preethi, another parent, is a strong believer in this. “My eight-year-old was a shy girl, until she started taking part in plays as part of her school activities in the last one year. Now, she is more active and it’s nice to see her involved and get over her inhibitions,” she explains.
While Veda, who teaches theatre to children, says that theatre is necessary to enrich a child’s life. “The journey of life is not smooth, so you need to be able to think differently and be able to approach problems in fresh ways. Theatre teaches children to think creatively about life,” she adds. While there is certainly no dearth of passion and talent in children’s theatre, the opportunities are still very few, feel many artistes. Sandra Oberoi, who directed the children’s musical ‘Cadence-Around the World in 80 Days’ recently, says, “Children’s theatre in Bangalore is still growing.
No doubt that there is an audience for it and very soon the City will see a huge increase in numbers.”
But how many of these children have continued doing theatre even after growing up? The number is very few. Few parents believe that as they grow their priorities tend to change. Some like Amar, a part-time theatre artiste, feels that the lack of money in the field restricts one from pursuing it as a career.
“A lot depends on the passion. As a child, it’s a lot easier as there is not much
to worry about but as you grow older things get more difficult. But now things are changing and more people are sustaining themselves with other jobs
to follow their dreams,” he adds.