Post-COVID, summer vacations are back to being power-packed with workshops offering a wide range of activities for children. Mumbai’s iconic Prithvi Theater (estb. 1978) is holding in-person ‘Summertime@Prithvi 2022’ workshops after a gap of two years. 

The 19 different workshops (May 1-June11) comprising storytelling, games and imagination amongst others are conceptualised to develop spontaneity and sharpen young minds through the arts.

“We aim to open the children’s imagination, creative thought and respect for the creative arts – while working together as a team with total strangers in a creative and harmonious manner,” says Kunal Kapoor, managing trustee, Prithvi Theatre.  

With dramatization and visualisation as its underlying theme, sessions such as ‘impromptu improvisation’, ‘traversing time and space’, ‘observation, story creation and mind games’ and ‘Make your own fairytale’ etc will  be held. The interactive workshops designed for ages six to 16 will be conducted in both Hindi and English. The workshops will be helmed by renowned theatre personalities like Trishla Patel, Richa Gupta Kala, Anita Salim, Aaryaman Salim and Om Katare amongst others.

While there is no compulsion to hold a final performance before an audience at the end of the workshop, the children and course conductors are free to invite parents on the last day to share their experiences, if they wish. 

The theatre, which never missed hosting a performance until COVID induced lockdowns, did hold a series of digital workshops in both 2020 and 2021. However, the digital experience was a bit of a damper says Kapoor, “Unfortunately the online experience was not that great. It actually made us realise how important the physical atmosphere at Prithvi Theatre is and how much that is, what we value.”  

For Kapoor, the smiles and energy from the children, working together in total creative harmony with other children they have never met – “all in just a week”, makes having these immersive workshops interesting.

Prithvi Theatre which offers theatre lovers an intimate 200-seater theatre experience began engaging with children in 1991 when Sanjna Kapoor – a stage actor and daughter of veteran actors Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendal, launched the Summertime season of workshops and plays. 

“She (Sanjna) loved working with children and her energy and hard work made sure it took off immediately,” says Kapoor who took over the management when his sister (Sanjna) stepped down to launch her own theatre company, Junoon in 2012.

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