Creative expression

Persephone begged to be released from the underworld, while in the next scene Zeus, the god of gods, walked in majestically onto stage… These were just snippets of a certain practice session I witnessed last week. Acted out by energetic and obviously very talented kids, the creative performance they were putting together seems to be quite a treat.

Potpourri – A collection of plays and performance poetry with children, will go on boards at the Punchi Theatre on September 29 and 30, at 6.00 pm. Directed by Sashi Mendis De Costa, Potpourri seems to have enough potential to keep you (whatever the age group you might belong to), engaged and entertained with the exciting array of drama and poetry in store.

One of the performances in the show will be a spectacular play-let based on the Greek myth Persephone and the Four Seasons. This Greek style play deals with the battle between the Gods, the kidnap of Persephone to the underworld and her rescue, culminating in the haunting ending which explains how the seasons, of Spring, Summer Autumn and Winter came to be.

Another play, with a modern twist to it, will be a brand new version of Alice In Wonderland, titled – Alice In America Land. In Alice In America Land, we get to meet the famous caterpillar, this time as a pompous Indian guru, Humpty Dumpty as an overbearing soldier who is obsessed with keeping watch and many more off beat characters such as the White Knight with a car that has square wheels, the Mock turtle, and the Red Queen.

Also the play-let – "Punchi Raja" which is in both Sinhala and English, will be a sure hit with the audience. This play-let is about a fictitious and impossibly hilarious Sri Lankan King. Potpourri also has in its program, a play-let with an interesting twist all abound with modernized fairytale characters. "Punchi Raja, or the Small King, is about a king who desperately wants to be tall. And you will get to meet Boo Yaka with his thovil dance and characters such as Dr. Gablet, in addition to an exasperated Queen and courtiers who are trying to solve the problem."

According to Sashi, "In this production the creative potential of the children has been stretched to great lengths and they have enjoyed every minute of creating, practicing, developing and honing their performing skills in preparation for the production Potpourri. Most of these play-lets are based on sessions of improvisation with the students, the final script being written by the director herself.

The performance is also spiced with a series of poems of Sound and Movement written and performed by the kids. The youngest kids in the team will give you short items such as The Three Bears and Gorgeous Locks and You're One In A Million, where toys come alive. For instance the poems used in the performance are ones that were written by the students during the drama class and later edited. "When written, the poems were required to have the component of "sound words" and have the potential for movement. In this way a set of poems for performance was prepared," said Sashi.

"I've been following these classes for about five and a half years, and it has definitely helped me with my confidence and things like stagefright. I'm playing Zeus, and also a part in the chorus, in the Greek play, and I'm also in Alice In America Land, and the performance poetry as well. What is different about this poetry is that it’s not just reciting, but has lots of movement and sounds as well," says Janik Sittampalan (13).

For Zahkee Zainoon (13), the Greek play was first related to them by their teacher, and then they were asked to get into two groups and act it out, with improvisations. "Then she took the best idea, combined them, and wrote the script. Also, sets and other extra things have not been given priority, but instead acting has."

The essence of the performance has evidently been derived from the regular classes held by Sashi, with the kids being taught how to work on their creativity by writing poetry. They also engage in other exercises such as voice projection and improvisation, which helped them with the performance. "I've been here since I was eight or nine years old, so I have acted before. This is a more challenging, complex and more serious performance. One of my poems titled the The Monster, will be performed in the show. It's about a monster that chases a child, and at the end of each verse, it makes a sound. We use objects to create the sounds, bringing out the sound factor in the performance poetry. It's great that we are given a chance to show what we are capable of and use our talents," says Shenuka Corea (12), who claims to never really have had stage fright.

The main roles of the plays will be performed by different kids, on the two different show days, capitalizing on opportunities to be on stage. "I'm playing Hades on one day, and am a part of the chorus on the other day. My poem The Strange House will be performed, and it's basically about how a boy hears strange noises in a house, and tries to find out what it is," says Sharuka Wikramanayaka (11), who wants to become a naturalist, working with birds especially, when he's older.

Rummana Hussains' poem My Mom's Crazy Day takes you on a random journey where the character is driven to craziness courtesy a mad bout of shopping, a disturbing call, her baby's wailing and a crazy drive! "I was generally a shy person, but coming for these classes, and performing has helped me a great deal to overcome that. I want to become an artist or a poet when I grow up," says this 12-year-old, smiling.

The youngest in the show who are aged five and six, have their pride of place at Potpourri. The poem Faces based on exercises carried out in the drama class is about happy, sad, angry and funny faces. It is a lively piece and is performed with gusto with a message to all. In One In A Million the toys come alive to convey that everyone is special. In the Three Raindrops, we meet the vain and proud raindrops being taught a lesson by the wise Sun.