Children's magical performance charms the audience on Day 3 of theatre festival

The third overseas theatre troupe of the festival, Center of Artistic Creativity, Egypt, headed by Md. Habib performed 'Flashback'. The short play based on the classic, Romeo-Juliet, was presented in dance-drama style. However, the event of the evening was Kalindi Bratyajon's children's workshop based production, 'Bhombol Sardar'.

The young artistes stole the heart of the gathering at the Academy of Fine Arts with their enthusiasm and what seemed far superior spontaneity and acting skills than adults. Credit goes to the director of the production Sumanta Roy and the initiatives taken by Bratyajon in developing young talents to flourish and engage with nuances of theatre and culturally rich Bengali literature for children, much before they face the harsh reality of their lives.

The 31 bubbly, pint-size energy bombs, in the age group 4 years to 14 years, flaunted their on-stage artistry, on the inaugural show. Bratya Basu, the convener of the festival, reiterated the importance of reading and engaging with children's literature of Khagendranath Mitra, Lila Majumder, Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay, Rabindranath Thakur etc. along with English literature of the kinds of Harry Potter and others.

He thanked the guardians for keeping faith in the enormous power of theatrical art form having massive potential to add positivity, confidence, and vigour in tender minds. In the end, Sangita Chakraborty of Ashokenagar Natyamukh was felicitated as a promising young director of theatre in Bengal.