NCPA Connections India: Explore these 16 plays performed and managed by teenagers across Mumbai

A moment from a performance of the play, Purvaiyaa

The stage is a place for truth. A place few dare to venture and fewer manage to triumph in. Yet, this weekend will be proof of the audacity of youth. The third edition of NCPA's youth initiative, Connections India, will bring to the stage 16 plays performed and managed by teenagers from across 16 schools, colleges and NGOs in the city. In plays where there were more students wanting to take part than there were parts, the directors had to hold audition. In most cases, the workshops accepted all students who were interested in participating.

Bruce Guthrie

Create a culture

Organised in association with National Theatre, UK, the annual showcase is an effort to open doors to the stage for the youth, shares Bruce Guthrie, head of theatre and film, NCPA. "The key thing we improved upon this year is adding an aspect of technical training and design to give kids an opportunity to learn about all the things that go into making a production," he points out.

From lighting, design, sound and backstage management, they were offered a glimpse into the world behind the screen through workshops under the Backstage Pass programme from August.

Shernaz Patel (centre) with her team during a workshop

Generational shift

The skills developed are not limited to the theatre. "One of the challenges children face is that since they spend so much time on screen, they struggle to physically communicate in front of people. A lot of the work we do focusses on these skills as well," he says. Shernaz Patel, creative learning director, Connections India, concurs saying, "The students embraced the stories. The directors, as part of the workshops, also worked on the complex themes and emotions. They also watched plays at Prithvi and NCPA to understand the theatre experience."

Bhavika Prithviraj (third from left) in the play Age is Revolting

Bridge the gap

Playwright Sheena Khalid's Level Up is among the two original Indian plays commissioned (alongside Arghya Lahiri's Hence Proven) this year. "Having directed in the first edition, I was struck by how complex it is for teenagers to navigate the world," she notes. Her play looks at grief through the perspective of a 13-year-old girl coping with the loss of her mother.

Shivani Vakil Sawant

This complexity does not faze Bhavika Prithviraj, of Kherwadi Public School assisted by the NGO Aseema Charitable Trust. The eighth-standard student is part of the 19-member team putting up Abi Zakarian's complex play about ageism, Age Is Revolting. "I had never been part of a play before this. I never realised how fun it was," she says.

Children from the Jai Vakeel Foundation rehearse for The Sad Club

Road to inclusivity

One of the highlights this year has been the participation of the 19 children with intellectual disability from the Jai Vakeel Foundation and Research Centre in the play, The Sad Club. Director Shivani Vakil Sawant spent time from August in workshops with the children. "I have always found children of special needs less inhibited. They are less afraid of making mistakes," she observes.

A group of children rehearse for the play Back In The Day

Patel shares, "The school was extremely helpful in offering assistance. These kids do not have a chance to do such complex plays often, and doing a 35-minute piece is not easy. We had to be sensitised on aspects from lighting, design to sound production as well."

Sawant adds that for the kids to be performing in front of an audience who are not family or teachers is a thrill. "In terms of getting them to watch a play, a tour of the backstage, time and space to learn about things with light and sound; it is a first time for a lot of them," she admits.

Guthrie shares that this is part of the longer process. "Connections is a wonderful way to level the playing field for children. It is a living, breathing experience that has to improve each year," he concludes.

FROM Today to January 26; 5.45 pm onwards
AT Experimental Theatre,
NCPA, Nariman Point.
LOG ON TO in.bookmyshow.com; ncpamumbai.com
COST Rs 90 onwards (members); Rs 100 onwards (non-members)

Catch these shows

. Ailie and the Alien
ON Today; 5.45 pm

. The Blue Electric Wind
ON January 17; 5.45 pm

. Purvaiyya
ON January 18; 5.45 pm

. Level Up
ON January 19; 7.30 pm

. The Sad Club
ON January 23; 5.45 pm

. Hence, Proven
ON January 25; 5.45 pm

. Age is Revolting
ON January 26; 5.45 pm