When storyteller Sandhya Ruban of Eloquens was asked to direct a children’s play for the fifth anniversary celebrations of Glow Worm Club, a library and activity centre, little did she realise that she would be retelling the story of the boy who wouldn’t grow old with a certain twist in the tale. Produced by Glow Worm Club, the familiar story of Peter Pan will be staged during the weekend after a complete makeover – including the addition of Rajinikanth fan clubs.
As the story goes, Peter Pan is now Peter Pandu, who comes to Chennai in search of a princess Rukmani alias Rukku. “Here, he comes across Rajini enthusiasts, whom he is fascinated by and has other encounters in the city. How he rescues princess Rukku and goes back to Neverland forms the crux of the story,” says Sandhya, who has directed the play. The 90-minute production she says, features Peter Pandu with a kudumi and a veshti. And she promises with a smile, “It’s going to be non-stop entertainment.”
Choreographed by movement specialist Andrea Jacob, the play is the result of a rigorous three-month workshop featuring kids between the ages of three and 13. There is no specific script that the kids have to stick to, as all of them have been encouraged to improvise on stage. There might be a mix of languages too, says Sandhya. “We did a lot of improv training during the workshop, so the children pretty much have a free hand on stage. If they are not able to say what they want, in English, they can switch to Tamil too. And since it’s set in Chennai, it works out well,” she says.
Sandhya also picked Peter Pan for the play because of the message it gives the children. “The story has a lot of elements that got me thinking. He escapes into Neverland whenever he cannot deal with issues but eventually learns how to deal with them. So I thought there could some be useful learning in there for the kids,” she says.
The cast of the play also includes 15 underprivileged kids from Teach For India and Oasis International who participated in the workshop. Look out for an interesting mime conceptualised by these children.
For tickets, contact 9840506041
