The April Project

A six week break for 13 year olds coming into grade 8 at DAIS,  an enthu mother who thinks up a plan to occupy them , an even more enthu drama teacher who agrees to guide them and a bunch of hard working mothers - and you had the April Project that culminated into amazing drama performances yesterday.

A disclaimer - I was not one of the enthu moms - even though one of my darling friends saved  a front row seat for me!!

What seemed madness and daunting in the initial days had a method to it. Kids divided into groups and some of them took charge of writing the scripts. Some went out getting permissions for staging the play in a theatre and came up against inane bureaucratic red tapism; a bunch designed the look and feel and translated it into merchandise including flyers, invites, tickets, cupcakes, book marks, notebooks, magnets, key chains and t-shirts. Then there were production managers, directors and the cast. The crew that comprised of backstage people, on cue assistants, lighting and sound guys!! The final performance was the hard work put in by all the children. 

And the plays themselves were quite a revelation - on what thirteen year olds think about. So there was one play on finding clues to get to the killer, one that discussed church vs science, one that portrayed the blend of medicine and superstition in treating disease in Africa, another that was coming of age for both the father and son who had divergent professional views and a clever take off  on the School itself. 

The scripts were brilliantly written - there was clarity on what needed to be revealed, excellent usage of vocabulary, engaging arguments and tightness in the story. What amazed me was the thought that went into the plays - these were not frivolous plays - there was meaning at many levels. Kids pick up nuances of behaviour and interaction that we think they are not capable of! And I know for sure that the kids took no adult help for this - that made it so awesome. 

I wonder how the kids  had thought up these things! Science vs religion? At 13, I had not even begun to think of these things - I was only happy going to the gurudwara or mandir for prasad and thought JC was cool. The arguments supporting both - the church and science-  were logical. I learnt the difference between atheism and agnosticism yesterday!!

Playing on superstition to drive medicine?  The play on Africa and treatment of diseases was interesting -how well meaning doctors and medical professionals can use superstition and local rituals to actually make people adopt medicine! 

Ofcourse, my son wrote the play on the conflict between the father and son on the career the son wants to take. The son leaves home and i

s successful, the father is distraught and eventually commits suicide. I think the hidden message there for us was that we must agree to what Udai wants, else, we will lose him and our lives!!!

The take off on the School was outstanding. And the way it played out was brilliant....it was done tongue in cheek, blatantly, but in such a manner that you could not hold them to ransom!!!! This was one play totally for the audience that comprised of parents and other school kids, and there was laughter all around. 

At the end of the show, when all the kids came to take a bow, I was really awed....these are 13 year olds who had done such a brilliant job! And while we think this generation is not hard working and spoilt, the fact is that they are intensely competitive, argumentative and know where they want to go!  They are well read and aware, and sensitive to what ails the world. They dream of making a difference to the lives of others. The Cool, It factor is not about good looks, but includes intelligence, spunk and humor!!! 

Like my friend says -if i was 13 again, I would crush on all these kids!!!