STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Natrang in its Sunday Theatre Series presented a new play by children ‘Laakh Ki Naak’ written by Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena and directed by Neeraj Kant. The play was designed and developed by the children who participated in the eight days winter workshop conducted by Neeraj Kant and Aarushi Thakur.
When all the children in Jammu were enjoying their winter break, the children of Natrang Winter Theatre Camp were engaged in giving momentum to their creative abilities besides polishing their inherent talent. This theatre workshop was a great opportunity for the kids as they were exposed to the play making process. The kids were given the opportunity to know about set designing, make up, costume design, sound effects and acting in these few days. This winter workshop organised by Natrang worked on a new innovative theme that challenged the creativity and imagination of the children.
The play ‘Lakh Ki Naak’ has a very large cast of courtiers, corrupt officials hand in glove with dishonest traders and manufacturers of swords. The main character in the play is a corrupt minister, the ‘Mantri’ who compromises the safety of the country by buying badly made swords from those who bribe him, the king and the queen who trusts the ministers blindly and then of course there is an honest blacksmith and his wife who are never able to sell their swords to the corrupt minister. Finally, the blacksmith and his wife plan to expose the ‘Mantri’ in front of the King and they succeed in doing so. The corrupt minister and his stooges were exposed and the honest blacksmith who makes good swords is at last able to sell his swords. In a highly intelligent manner, the play’s satire ably related to certain defence deals of the country where the compromises with the security of the country were made.
Earlier, in his address, Natrang founder Padamshree Balwant Thakur dwelt in detail about his vision of theatre for children. He appealed to the parents for encouraging their wards to participate in theatre and creative arts if they want to see future generations to compete the challenges of world. Balwant Thakur shared his dream of creating an exclusive campus dedicated to children, a space where they explore their immense inner abilities.
The children who participated in the play included Gopi Sharma, Sanyam Gupta, Shreya Gupta, Riya Jandial, Agam Kaur, Chander Pratap Singh Bhau, Chirag Anand, Vidit Shirsh, Samyak Shirsh, Arsh Vimal, Aryansh Vimal,Khushi Jandial, Ayn Bhola, Jasmeh Kaur, Yajur Mahajan, Divyan Sharma, Asma Gul, Vandita Sharma, Uddhav Pratap Vohra, Samrat Singh Kotwal, Aaditya, Pratap Singh Charak, Atul Sharma, Sarthak Sharma, Akhil Sharma, Nikhil Sharma, Aniket K. Chakrabarty, Dev Vrat Sharma, Kriti Chauhan, Aanandita Sethi, Suditi Jamwal, Navya Jain, Swaranjali Samyal, Prial Tickoo, Devina Tickoo, Mihir Gujral, Anirudh Bhatia and Mania Gujral. Those who assisted in the production and presentation of ‘Laakh Ki Naak’ included Mohammad Yaseen, Ankush Lakhnotra, Masood Qadir, Namit Dubey, Sachin Bamba, Varun Sharma, Rajan Thakyal and Amit Raina.