Upper School Drama Fest – Reflections on Process

The 16th of December saw four plays take place as a part of the Upper School Arts Festival. The second term in school is usually dedicated to drama, exploring themes and ideas that impact that world at large. The themes for this year were caste, masks, the life of Frida Kahlo and a guide to the internet. Maria Popova writes that much of our lives are spent trying to understand where the individual ends and the rest of the world begins. The point of exploring themes such as these is precisely this – to get the children to think about these aspects of society that they will meet when they step into the real world, to get them to research, explore and present their understandings on these topics in any manner that seems theatrical to them. And most importantly, to acknowledge that the research that they’ve undertaken in this process is ongoing – that the play in itself is not the end but perhaps, a beginning. 

Each play went through a different process – one that complimented the theme that they had chosen. Here is a brief note on the drama leads for each group.

To Be or Not to Be: A Performative Enquiry

Ours was a performative inquiry intended to understand caste in India. Even though there was a perceived pressure to know it all and take a stand, somewhere mid-process we realised that it was more important to begin exploring and present our evolving understanding of this complex system. Children took their time but came up with an impactful script and installation design which was further fortified by inputs, prompts and timely feedback from their facilitators and peers. 

Here is a tool kit on understanding caste that the group developed. 

Masks:

I saw the children meet the concept with doubt and soon they were able to connect to the various masks - seen and unseen - around them. The themes they came up with where they could identify masks were - identity, bullying, Peer pressure, social stigmas, conforming etc. 

We used mime,face paint, made masks from scratch, and a laptop screen was made as a prop which in itself represented a kind of mask. Some takeaways from the cast and crew:

We all wear masks

It's metaphorical, but that does not mean it does not exist

It was interesting to explore the concept of masks through issues close to us such as exam preparation, exclusion, cyber bullying and body shaming.

Here is a brief video that gives you a glimpse of the performance. 

If Frida Could Dance:

"If Frida could dance" reimagined the exceptional life and uncompromising art of Frida Kahlo and does so through music, dance and theatre.

Much more than the biography of an artist, this is an artistic expression that resonates with grief, pain, rebellion and transcendence. It is the story of many different women channelled through the journey of one.

Here is an excerpt from a brochure distributed before the play that talks about the process in detail. 

Metaverse:

The idea to do a play on the internet was to critically examine our relationship with the internet. The children very early on in the process came up with the idea of creating and e utopia and an e dystopia. Much of the process was spent in discovering what this could look like for the children. One of the many immersions that the children created for the piece was two websites that acted as guides to the internet – one for the ‘real’ or the dystopian internet and one for the ‘awesome’ or utopian internet. 

What emerged from all four plays was a deeper understanding of how one can present their understanding of the world through art.