This unique upcoming play in Mumbai for children puts a spotlight on loneliness, bullying

The 50-minute-long Hindi play is based on the book The Colour Thief by Stephen Aitken and Sylvia Sikunda

Imagine a world where a rakshas or a giant takes all colour from the world. As adults, we would question this fantasy but children's play director Shaili Sathyu knows that her audience wouldn't. Sathyu is a theatre veteran and artistic director of Mumbai's Gillo Repertory Theatre, an organisation working exclusively for children and young people.

Her new play, titled Rangchor: Ek rakshas ki anokhi kahani, is based on The Colour Thief by Stephen Aitken and Sylvia Sikundar, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat and published by Tulika Books. In the imaginatively constructed story, a grouchy giant decides to scoop all colour out of the world, but a little girl helps the giant see the world in a completely different light.

"In November last year," says Sathyu, "we had done a touring project in Solapur, where we had adapted this story as a 30-minute play in Marathi." Despite it being a "simple story", she admits that she found it quite appealing. She recalled that it was performed for school students and other children in the Solapur district, and hence, included a basic set up with no stage lights and technical support.

Sahili Sathyu

"We did about 25 shows and even without technical production, the children were responding well to the show. They were engaging with the story and showing their curiosity by asking questions. The play connected with the audience [children] well".

The enthusiastic reactions by her little viewers prompted Sathyu to redesign, rewrite and recreate this story as a longer version in Hindi. Releasing this 50-minute-long play during the summer vacation for children aged eight and above seemed like a good choice for her and the team. What stood out for Sathyu when they performed this play in Solapur last year was the fact that the children did not question the logic of the story and just went along with the fantasy.

"It was more about ‘why does the rakshas do certain things? Why does he not? Why did the story end like that?', and we deliberately left some parts of the production ambiguous because we wanted to make the children think," says Sathyu. "Each kid has their own interpretation of things. For instance, when we asked them why the rakshas doesn't like colours, they responded saying that this was symbolic of being sad, lonely or being bullied by others."

Abir Patwardhan, who looked after the design of the play, also believes in not "spoon-feeding" the children because they are not watching a TV programme. "We want them to come along with us, and we offer them the scope of imagination," Patwardhan adds. The play also looks at issues such as bullying, loneliness and inclusion of differently-abled children.

The play has been adapted by Preeti Aher, with light design by Gurleen Judge, choreography by Prachi Saathi, music by Mithila Lad Nayak and Sarfaraz Qureshi, while the cast includes Barkha Fatnani, Jigna Khajuria, Ritul Singh, Preeti Aher, Sagar Landge, Almas Potrick, Rupesh Sangle and Manoj.

The most challenging aspect for Sathyu was the fact that she had to show how the rakshas magically takes away all colour from the world. She recalls, "We managed to show this symbolically by stage craft, as we cannot edit unlike cinema or animation. Stage design, lighting, music and choreography besides action play a very crucial part in bringing the magic alive on the stage."

WHAT: Gillo Repertory Theatre's Rangchor
WHEN: May 12; 4 PM, 7 PM
WHERE: Prithvi Theatre, Juhu
PRICE: Rs 350
TO BOOK: prithvitheatre.org