Wildlife Adventure:
For a decade now Shaili Sathyu and her Gillo Repertory Theatre have been specialising in plays for children, and also presenting unusual stories on the stage.
Gillo’s latest The Ghost Of The Mountains has been adapted by Shaili and Ritul Singh from a story by Sujatha Padmanabhan (illustrated by Madhuvanti Anantharajan, published by Kalpavriksh and Snow Leopard Conservancy – India Trust), is set in Ladakh, and gives the audience of kids and accompanying adults, a small glimpse of life in a mountain village, while quietly sliding in a wildlife conservation message.
Rigzin (Ritul Singh) lives with his mother Ama-ley (Barkha Fatnani) in a Ladakh village, and hopes to be a nature guide. The monastery nearby is an important part of the village, and preparations are on for a festival. Rigzin and his friend Tashi (Saurabh Soni) are in charge of the decorations.
Shweta (Afsana Ahmed), a young girl from Mumbai, who lives in the Aarey Forest of Mumbai, travels there for a home stay with Rigzin and his mother. As they go trekking in the mountains, news comes of a snow leopard having killed livestock in the village.
The animal is trapped in the barn, and there is a heated discussion among villagers, who want to kill the animal and Rigzin, who wants to rescue the leopard and let the wildlife department release it in its natural habitat. Humans have expanded into wildlife areas, forcing predators to come into the villages and attack domestic animals for food.
Shweta, who lives in a forest area in Mumbai, talks of leopard sightings in the city too, and how the green cover is shrinking.
The play is short enough to engage the attention of kids, and is peppered with humour. The Ladakhi costumes worn by the women look attractive. The production design (Abir Patwardhan) is functional, with a large screen, for the use of shadow puppets to portray the animals (lights by Gurleen Judge). Nihar Shembekar’s music is in keeping with the locale and mood of the play. The beautifully-choreographed (Prachi Saathi) rescue sequence elicited spontaneous applause.
It is always heartening to see children, who have been exposed to sophisticated animation and special effects-laden films on screen, still respond to the simplicity of a stage production that has something of value to convey. By now, Shaili Sathyu knows just what her audience wants and delivers it with imagination and feeling, and that too on a shoe-string budget.
(This piece first appeared in mumbaitheatreguide.com)
