Bengaluru’s non-profit theatre group Theatre For Change (TFC) had to stop staging plays due to the pandemic. However, they, like most of their peers around the world, have worked around the difficulties to come up with a new project. On September 5, they will release a theatrical reading of Vijay Padaki’s play Headstart on YouTube.
The reading, which is hosted in association with the Rotary Bangalore Orion Gateway Trust, is an attempt to raise funds for marginalised women with cancer.
Headstart talks about the education system, spanning three generations. It deals with parents obsessed about their children’s academic success and the pressure the education system puts on them and their children.
Theatre For Change founder Sujatha Balakrishnan says about the play, “Despite dealing with a serious theme, it doesn’t preach. It is a funny play.”
“It was difficult to put the play together online. On stage, with movements, lighting, props and music, there is a lot of scope to elevate the script. It shrinks a lot online. The actors, however, have done a good job. With costumes, we have tried to capture the essence of a South Indian middle class household in the ‘90s.”
The 90-plus-minute online performance of Headstart will be available on YouTube from September 5 onwards. To buy the ticket for the same, click here
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