Huracan, the storm God, sits under the Coomacka Tree to tell tales of his kingdom. Caribbean Calypso, a Jagriti Kids Production, is the culmination of Jagriti's year-long Theatre Arts Programme that works with about 100 children. Filled with song, dance and storytelling, 14 students from the programme, between the ages of seven and 15, have put the show together this year, directed by Tullika Majumdar and Arundhati Raja.
"It's a fun, lively story," says Rebecca Spurgeon, Jagriti, shortly after the first performance came to an end on Friday. "The children handle everything on their own - we don't even have assistants or stage managers backstage to help with the props. They do it all."
Meanwhile, Huracan's lively stories are delivered with help from his animal friends - Peacock, Goat, Monkey, Parrot, Crab, Snake and Queen Bee. There's also Anansi the cunning spider and his rival, Tiger, the mighty king of the forest.
"The stories are a lot like our Indian folklore - the Panchatantra, for instance, which revisits old legends," says Spurgeon. Caribbean Calypso is a re imagining of the Anansi and The Tiger stories from the West Indies, by Margaret Bulleyment.
The team was put together after rigorous auditions - "just like any other Jagriti production," Spurgeon explains. They come in for rehearsals each day and work with a director - "Working with kids is different because they're so trusting. They dedicate themselves wholly and unquestioningly to us. It's a very different experience from working with more mature actors. The idea, really, is to put together a professional performance."
