THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Far away from the city, in a highly remote pocket in Idinjar, 53 tribal children are all set to experience the world of theatre and books. The students who were earlier trained by the Kerala State Institute for Children’s Literature (KSICL) in theatre acting at a camp will visit the city on Wednesday. They will visit the Sopanam Institute of Performing Arts and Research and the library housed at the Institute for Children’s Literature.
In a first-of-a-kind initiative, the institute had conducted a vacation camp in theatre acting for the children from the tribal communities last December. In continuation of the programme, the students will now visit these institutes. They will spend some time in Sopanam, interact with theatre personalities and watch their performance and training. The students will then visit the library at the KSICL.
The theatre camp was the first such initiative from the KSICL for students from tribal communities. “Mostly it is the children from the city area who benefit from such camps and the kids from the tribal areas do not get the necessary exposure. The camp was aimed at extending the benefits to them as well and was an attempt to bring them into the mainstream,” said Institute director Palliyara Sreedharan.
A three-day programme was conducted at the Idinjar Government Tribal School where the students learned the craft involved in theatre acting. B Balachandran was the camp director and the programme witnessed massive participation with the parents and nearby residents turning the camp into a festival of sorts. The students had performed ten plays during the camp.
The success of the programme in reaching out to the often-neglected and highly-underprivileged sections of the community has further emboldened the Institute to conduct more such camps. “Plans are afoot to conduct more such camps for children from tribal communities,” said KSICL director.