Weaving a spell

The play's cast members include Manoj Karki, Jigna Khajuria, Sriparna Chatterjee, Janit Temkar, Atul Somkuwar and John Soans

Two siblings come to live with their aunt in a housing society in a big city. Everything about the home is unlike anything they have seen, and given its strange reputation and that of its owner, the siblings cannot find playmates. That is until the neighbourhood sweet shop owner Mr Jeejeebhoy's flock of birds escape. Can the siblings mend the situation using their special powers?

That's the premise of Anitha Balachandran's book, Mister Jeejeebhoy and the Birds, and when Shaili Sathyu was approached to direct a play based on children's books, she picked it because it was the least straightforward story and thus, the most challenging to stage. "Yet, I chose it, not just for the fun of it, but also because it is just such a charming story," says the artistic director of Gillo Theatre Repertory, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The eponymous play will be staged by the city-based repertory on the first two Sundays of February.

Children in the audience are encouraged to join in during the staging of the play

To bring the story to life, the play's cast got together and shared their own childhood memories of friends, neighbourhood shops, and the games they played. For this, they took the help of drawings, object play, improvisations, re-enactments and re-creating of soundscapes from memory. The stage adaptation, therefore, was a juxtaposition of the original plot and the actors' stories from their own past.

The delightful illustrations in the book find their way into the play, too. "We have white cut-outs based on the illustrations strung across the staging area. We chose the colour white so they remind you of the shapes you see in clouds," shares Sathyu. Tanya Mahajan and Prasad Dagare have worked on the set design.

Like the interactive format of the repertory's other plays, Mr Jeejeebhoy offers ample opportunities for kids in the audience to participate in the story unfolding before their eyes. "I chose a few moments that would encourage children to cross the invisible line and become a part of the performance. We have some children becoming passengers in the bus, and some coming to play hide and seek with the characters," says Sathyu, as she recalls how some kids wouldn't come out of their hiding spots long after the sequence is over. "That's the fun of it. If you are creating an interactive piece, you don't draw a line for what's allowed and what is not. As an actor, you engage with whatever happens, and navigate through it."

ON: February 3, 11 am
AT: Leon's World Centre, Rustomjee Cambridge International School, Thane West. February 9, 11 am; St Andrew's Centre for Philosophy and Performing Arts, St Dominic Road, Bandra West (for ages five and above)
CALL: 9819094929
ENTRY: Rs 250

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