Pics: Vincent Braganza
Remember the days when Cinderalla, Thumbellina, Rapunzel, etc were your world? How you couldn't go to bed until your parents read the story to you just one more time? Indeed, most of us were quite obsessed with these fairy tale characters, even demanding to be dressed like them and have themed stationary and birthday parties based on our favourite characters. It wouldn't be wrong to say that many of us even wished to be a part of this magical world if even for a day.
And then, we grew up. And began to notice all the loopholes in the stories, the senselessness of some of the scenes and began to wonder how we had even thought that they were awesome. A princess felt a pea through twenty mattresses and feather beds? Get real. Snow White married the stranger who kissed her and that too while she was unconscious? Didn't she learn anything at all from her evil step mother's poison apple visit?
Amused by the stupidity of it all, the youth members of the Abhivyaktee cultural group known as the Abhivyaketee Yuva Shakti under the direction of Anagha Deshpande have come out with an English musical Topsy Turvy Tales where they have put their own spin to the age old fairy tales. The musical which is one hour long has been written by youngster Antara Bhide and has already had one show in Panaji recently. “I had written a poem about a girl who doesn't want a prince, she just wants someone for herself. When I showed it to ma'am (Anagha Deshpande) she thought it would be a good idea to make a play on this,” says Bhide. “We began discussing how fairy tales affect our childhood and how we dream about the things that we read when we were children. We then decided to combine all these tales together and change the story.”
The play tells the story of a group of teenagers who are given an assignment by their teacher of enacting fairy tales . However, they soon realise that they can't relate to these tales and thus deliver improvised performances.
The entire writing process took about one and a half month with everyone chipping in with their own inputs. Bhide also penned lyrics for songs which were then set to the tunes of popular songs like Edelweis, Doe a Deer etc with music provided on the guitar by Lester D'Souza. And with fun lyrics like, 'Mi a name I call my phone, Fa my mothers deodorant, So the start of confusion, Ti a trigonometric test', you can be assured of a laughter riot.
“It's not that we hate traditional fairy tales. They are okay. But sometimes they instill the wrong ideas in our head like for e.g. It's always a prince who has to come and save you or that only white is beautiful,” explains Bhide, who is currently in her final year in college and wants to go out of Goa to learn the art of theatre further. Deshpande adds that despite the obvious loopholes in the story, fairy tales are an important part of growing up. “Psychologically, fairy tales are important as they give you a beautiful romantic feeling towards life and keep dreams alive. However as we grow up and begin to think rationally, you don't relate to it. But few people don't grow up and remain with these ideas only. They don't grown ideologically,” she says while Bhide adds, “They are not given the opportunity by the society and the people around them. They are told that this is who you are and this is who you are going to be. This needs to change.”
BOX 1- All about Abhivyaktee
Abhivyaktee was started in 1997 by Anagha Deshpande and her husband Saish Desphande with the aim of promoting meaningful theatre. “We wanted to do theatre which was not only meant for entertainment but also helped promote a rational attitude towards life,” says Deshpande. A theatre actor who has acted in quite a few plays in Goa herself, Deshpande is currently employed with the Directorate of Art and Culture and teaches theatre in three schools around Goa- Mustifund High School, Panaji, Red Rosary High School, Miramar and Bal Vidhya Mandir, Ribandar.
Deshpande first began the organisation with many activities for children. In fact most of the cast members of this particular play have been part of the group since they were kids themselves. Apart from her children and youth groups, she also has an adult group where she too performs in the plays. “The children's workshops are mostly focused on improving personality through theatre. The youth group apart from receiving training also handle events like the recently concluded Yuva Jagruti, by themselves,” she says. Currently the youth wing of the group has around 30 members. “While theatre is a compulsory part of school syllabus now, after school there is absolutely nothing for youngsters interested in theatre. And these are the people who usually end up joining our group. We have one member who even comes here all the way from Bicholim,” she says.
As part of the group, Deshpande believes in creating new scripts right from scratch rather than relying on ready made ones. “We treat theatre as a laboratory where we create our own things,” she says, adding that with the easy availability of so many other entertainment options, they have to strive to be different in order to create an audience for themselves.
BOX 2 “ Cast members talk about the fairy tale that they just don't get!
Antara Bhide- Definitely Snow White. I think any girl with a dark complexion will have a problem with the notion that only white is beautiful.
Dragana Andrade- I don't like how Cinderella remains submissive till the end. She doesn't fight and stand up for herself even under the prince.
Misbah Muzawar- I would say Sleeping Beauty. No one can sleep for that long. Also, how is she fine with the fact that the prince who was a complete stranger, kissing her?
Siddharth Raythatha “ I have two main issues with the story of Cinderella. If her shoes were the right size, how did they fall off? Also, if they were made of glass how did they not break?
Lester D'Souza- If your skin turned blue because of a pea, as in the story of The Princess and a Pea, that does not make you delicate, you probably just have an allergy.
Lavkush Tari “ Pinocchio's nose grew because he told lies. However, in real life, one can't always tell the truth. Sometimes we lie to protect ourselves or the ones we love.
