Helen O’Grady International, the creative education academy brought William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’ to unfold on stage like a dream, full of magic, colours, music and action leaving 800 students from schools across Mumbai totally awestruck on Monday morning as they watched 22 actors bring Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ alive on stage in a unique Broadway style musical show performed through mime and dance. ‘The Tempest’ combined sound, light and action to narrate a powerful story! Three monologues of Shakespeare from the play were used as songs to effectively take the story forward. This was the 50th show and over 50,000 students have watched it across many cities of India and is set to reach thousands more in the coming months.
Shakespeare’s play sans words? Yes, the words were not missed because the Bard’s plots and characters tell a perfect story! The actors who were in perfect sync with the energetic and soulful music and supported by the stunning visuals glided on stage emoting and mesmerizing one and all. Students from Grade 3 to Grade 12 were all at the edge of their seats glued to the drama being enacted on the stage. The educational value of this venture was clearly evident. Its bound to create love and curiosity for good literature. Students would want to know more about the master story teller who can weave such magic as was playing out in front of their eyes.
Mrs. Arpita Mittal, CEO, Helen O’Grady International who conceptualized the play says “Students are afraid of the Shakespearean language and thus miss out on the treasure trove of his works. Hence we chose to perform Shakespeare minus his acclaimed words through this unique medium of mime. We can’t deprive children of his fascinating plots, stories and the wonderful characters he weaves. The emotions and thoughts are topical and universal. So, to deliver the message home, if we present children with a medium that surpasses language, that’s when the story’s beauty surfaces. This format was attempted for the first time ever in the country.”
After this hugely successful venture, Arpita says they will keep coming up with more educational, meaningful and entertaining content for our esteemed audience.
School Principals and educators who watched the play displayed great happiness and surprise at the unique format. Here is what some of them had to say:
“It was just amazing, honestly to do Shakespeare like this… with no words, and all with mime & dance, just stunning. This 50th show was just sensational.” ~ Todd Bazley, Principal, JBCN International School, Chembur
“So good…mesmerizing, all the actors are so brilliant and I love the ensemble of the dancers, they are full of energy and it’s a stunning performance and I am going to bring my students from grades 6th, 7th & 8th next time. Thank you for this Visual Feast.” – ~ Mr. Darsha, Head of English Department, B.D. Somani International School
“We watched this play and it was a mesmerizing experience. I never imagined that Shakespeare play can be so beautiful without words, so mime and music was an amazing idea. It was very impressive” ~ Ms. Anjali, English Department, Podar International School IB
“I am Mubarika, HOD of English Department, Diamond Jubilee High School-we were looking forward to this play for a very long time and it was a mesmerizing experience. The costumes, the backdrops, the VFX effects, and of course the characters themselves. It was an awesome job done by Helen O’Grady International; thank you for inviting us over. We witnessed every moment from the edge of the seat and it was a wonderful experience through the one and half hour. Thank you so much.” ~ MUBARIKA, HOD English Department, Diamond Jubilee High School
“I think the show was absolutely wonderful. I personally enjoyed it a lot and also saw all my children watching it spellbound; I was then really happy to watch it in silence” ~ Devi Priya Mukherjee, Head Coordinator, English Department, Billabong International School, Juhu
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