An act from Rajasthan
online children’s theatre festival inspired by the works of writer
Vijaydan Detha
For the last two months, students of
Swatantra Theatre from Pune were honing their acting chops in virtual acting classes. The culmination of their efforts is the Detha Ki Katha, an online children’s theatre festival, where plays inspired by Vijaydan Detha’s writings are being presented. Also known as Bijji, Detha was a writer of Rajasthani literature. He was a recipient of many prestigious awards, including the
Padma Shri and the
Sahitya Akademi Award.
Elaborating on the festival, Swatantra Theatre’s Dhanashree Heblikar, who conceptualised the event, mentions: “We have produced plays inspired by many regions in the country such as Bengal, but Rajasthan was new to us. That’s the reason why we chose Detha’s literature to highlight Rajasthan.” Preparing 13 children for the festival was certainly challenging, recalls Heblikar. “Getting used to technical gl