BENGALURU:Rosamma the cow has become a pain for many. She rants and raves and creates hell for everyone else, so much so that things are far from ideal on the beautiful farm. Set in a world that stretches far beyond this farm, the play How Cow Now Cow tries to help children interpret the performance in several ways.
The director of the play Vinod Ravindran says, “The most beautiful thing about it is that it is a simple story. It stays with you and no matter who sees it, children or adults, everyone ends up having their own take on the story, which is fascinating. It leaves enough space for interpretations.
We have done a lot of shows and met and spoken to lot of our audience members and each of them had their own take on this play. In fact, we regularly hear a new point of view that we couldn’t have thought about.”
He uses a mix of performance and puppetry in the play. Vinod adds, “When we decided to do this play, we knew that we needed to keep the heart of the story intact but we had to adapt and invent our own way of tell the story and so we use objects, projections and music.”
Place to Wonder and Air Doubts
The play tries to give children a unique experience. Vinod says, “In today’s world, children are exposed to a limitless supply of audio visual experience, on television or on the Internet or on their parents’ phones. All of this is entertainment. But the magic of a live performance is something else with enough space for them to question, raise doubts and wonder.”
How did he come across this story? He says, “It is a German play that I read a long time ago and it had stayed with me. It was beautiful in its simplicity. We read it again and it worked for us.”
The actor Sachin Gurjale says there are no fixed roles in this play. “All of us actors play many roles, and sometimes play ourselves too. The play is set in a farm and most of the characters are animals - some likeable, some are not so likeable. But there are shades of me which I can see in all these animals,” he says.
He adds children are the most honest audience you can expect to find. “When they are engaged by a performance you clearly see they are really having fun. But if you are faking it, you can expect them to tell you that right there, loud and clear.”
Shweta Desai plays the role of a story teller and also plays other characters. “It is difficult, to be alert as a performer and be equally interactive enough to take the story forward.”
When and Where
The play will staged at Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar, on April 21 at 7.30 pm and April 22 at 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm.