Chetla Krishti Sansad occupies a distinctive place within the Bengali theatre ecosystem, working, as it does, exclusively with and for children. For over three decades, this group has trained children holistically in the theatrical arts and nurtured them long enough to send them out into the world of adult theatre as able, skilled performers. If, while drawing up a list of significant Bengali theatre groups, we tend to overlook Chetla Krishti Sansad, it is because of the peculiar, and rather sad, collective bias of considering theatre by and for children as being somewhat marginal in the larger context.

The latest production of Chetla Krishti Sansad, Bichhuran, was staged on the occasion of the group’s 28th theatre festival. The festival, which had been forced to take a hiatus of two years because of the pandemic, made a thumping comeback this year with both the child actors and the audience brimming with lively enthusiasm. Bichhuran has been written and directed by Pinaki Guha, the sexagenarian leader of Chetla Krishti Sansad who has forgotten to become an adult. He brings to the writing and the making of the play a charming simplicity of imagination that can only be characterised as childlike.

The play is episodically structured, with the episodes presenting the capers that Bichhu, the protagonist, gets himself into. Bichhu is, of course, the archetypal naughty boy with a golden heart and it is not surprising that Bichhu’s antics connect him to the young audience with great immediacy. As always, the Chetla Krishti Sansad signature of allowing child actors to enjoy their time on stage while keeping them contained within the grammatical boundaries of theatre is evident in the performance.

It is heartwarming to witness young performers negotiate with set elements, props and the dynamics of acting in groups while enjoying themselves to the hilt. Although all the young actors deserve to be lauded for their effort, Rudrakshi Ghosh as Rocky deserves an extra pat on her back for her remarkable performance.