Day I Met The Prince: Imaginations Unlimited

If you have trouble imagining, getting to this play would be a good option. The better option however would be to read The Little Prince by Antoine Saint Exupery, the book from which the play is adapted, and rather well at that. Written by Kuo Pan Kun, Day I Met the Prince is interactive and involves the audience to find answers to life’s myriad questions.

What do you do when people around you don’t understand you? Or your drawings? A little girl cannot understand adults, especially when they ridicule her drawings of pythons and elephants. She then meets a prince from a far away planet who has only one query, “How do you protect a rose from a goat?” And the two of them set off on a journey to get the answer, meeting interesting people along the way, including a geographer (”Why are you asking me all these questions? I’m a geographer, not an adventurist”)  and a seller of magic pills (”Why spend time drinking water when you can have these magic pills”). When they both finally get the answer, the prince bids adieu, leaving the little girl in her interesting world.

From the time it starts, Day I Met the Prince keeps you amused with lively performances by Working Title’s very talented trio of performers. Music, drama, magic tricks, and spirited singing are something you can look forward to. The stage actors paint a lovely illusion and if you’re part of the audience, chances are you’ll be playing along as well. And that’s not all, the interactive play brings out wacky quips from kids in the audience. So be prepared!

Mummy Please: Leave Them Kids Alone

The characters of Mummy Please pop out of a book to tell the story of Ayush, who is constantly harangued by his mother to score 90% marks in his exams. Presented by theatre group Yatri, the play in Hindi shows how Ayush’s mother wants her son to achieve more than what he can, making him utter in distress each time, “Mummy Please.”

Ayush is a boisterous lad who loves playing football, online games and irritating his sister, Anjana. His constant hassles with his mother are heard by Piglu, a sticker on his computer that comes alive to help him and is visible only to him. On discovering this genius of a sticker, Ayush is delighted and converses with him non-stop, much to Anjana’s and his mother’s chagrin who think he’s losing his mind. Annoyingly, a nosy neighbor also adds fuel to the fire by giving her high-pitched advice on what kids should and shouldn’t do. But Piglu manages to salvage the situation each time in a fun manner.

Mummy Please continues to draw in the masses though some of the dialogues can be a bit harsh for smaller kids. Parents should watch it too; there’s something to learn there. While Piglu’s dexterous moves and bold remarks are fun to behold, they also drive home a message- that kids should be allowed to be their age.

Yatri has been around for more than 20 years, with renowned plays like Sakharam Binder, Chandu Ki Chachi and Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge, while Nakchadi and Mummy Please are productions for the younger audience.

Nikki Aur Vicky: Entertaining For Kids

Funtoosh Players’ Nikki Aur Vicky is an adorable story of two siblings and how untouched they are from prejudices and social stigmas that get attached to adults. Despite their fears and vulnerabilities, the children innocently surpass the rules put down by their mother to reach out to another child.

Vicky and his sister are precocious youngsters who are at constant loggerheads over anything under the sun, much to their mother’s annoyance. But underneath the constant madness the two can’t do without each other, vouching for the other as and when required. When Munna comes into their lives, there’s havoc at first. Vicky seems to get into trouble whenever Munna is in the scene. But as time passes, the siblings realise that he is fun to be with and spend lots of time with him. Even the social divide between them doesn’t separate the friends, which leads the parents to relent and let them just be what they are- a bunch of kids.

The play is for kids and is made interesting with songs, fun dialogues, and colorful yet minimal stage props. Kids of the ages 5-12 will love references to current favorites Hannah Montana, Power Puff Girls, etc. in a lingo simple enough to grasp.

Check Prithvi’s website for more on kids’ plays and children’s workshops conducted by Funtoosh Players.