Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man’; ‘On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. They build their houses with sand, and they play with empty shells. Tempest roams in the pathless sky, ships are wrecked in the trackless water, death is abroad and children play," wrote Rabindranath Tagore, whose series of Bengali primers, Sajah Path, paid great testimony to his love for children.
A small group of children visit Tagore's ancestral home in Jorasanko, Kolkata - a most entertaining series of events unfold from there on, with audiences drawn into a world filled with magic, made of jackals and tigers, pundits and kings, godmen and cobblers.
This is Robi's Garden, an original script that has been adapted to the stage by veteran Vijay Padaki, founder, Bangalore Little Theatre. The content is drawn from Tagore's works for children, inclduing his verse, short stories, plays and sketches and even his autobiographical writings, taken from his letters.
The play unfolds in the courtyard, where plays often took place during Tagore's time. There, they meet the Kabuliwalla, Tagore's most-loved character, who tells them to use their imagination. The plot unravels through seven allegorical vignettes.
The idea is, quite simply, to tell a compelling story. There are no sets, props or costumes, only actors, who slip seamlessly between narration and playing characters in the stories. "There are quite a few tongue-in-cheekc omments about contemporary affairs as surprisingly enough, much of Tagore's matter is relevant to modern times," says Padaki. Robi's Garden was a product of the annual summer workshop conducted by the Bangalore Little Theatre. founded in 1960, it is the city's oldest theatre society.
Robi's Garden is being presented by the Rotary Theatre Club, a new initiative by the Bengaluru chapter, which aims at providing high quality theatre activities. These include public performances in collaboration with Bangalore Little Theatre, with Vijay Padaki, also a Rotarian and a life member of BLT, as the principal mentor and facilitator at RCB's Theatre Club.
What: Robi's Garden
When: September 12 and 13, 6.30 pm onwards
Where: Alliance Francaise, Vasanth Nagar
Donor passes are available at the Rotary House of Friendship, Lavelle Road
