
NataKalpane
NataKalpane (Theatre + Imagination) is the seed of an idea. It will take on two forms, each serving a specific, distinct need.
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It will be the name of Karnataka's first touring repertory for children's work.
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It will also be the name of the online network of students, parents, teachers and local theatre makers form the various cities that the repertory travels to
NataKalpane, as a whole, will work to understand and address the integration of the arts in mainstream, primary education in non-English, non-urban spaces in Karnataka.
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And it begins, as it should, with a play.
We settled on an adaptation of The Little Prince because the story is timeless in its exploration of imagination, of empathy and of the growing distance between those who think and those who do.
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Our Kannada adaptation of The Little Prince explores a queering of the French classic. The book's timeless themes of friendship, love, loss, and growing older sits alongside the playwright's curiosities on gender, authority, and the decolonised lens. This version is highly interactive, and uses word play and character refreshes from the local milieu to create a dramatic experience that will be accessible to young audiences from various social locations, urban or otherwise. ​
Bhasha Centre's production of The Little Prince will begin rehearsing in June 2022 and will announce the birth of NataKalpane as a repertory and network.
Images from a reading of the first draft. The Jamun, October 2021