Munro Leaf’s cult classic, The Story of Ferdinand, received a fabulous after-life in Chetla Krishti Sansad’s latest production, Fear-de-anando, performed for the first time in the latest edition of the Krishti Sansad’s Children’s Theatre Festival (December 2019). Shamik Bindu’s adaptation is brilliant because it successfully recreates the quality of being enigmatically unclassifiable, which remains the hallmark of Leaf’s text. Leaf’s story is primarily meant for and hugely appreciated by children. But adults enjoy it too, with a section of mature readers injecting into this pre-World World II text many layers of contesting political meanings. Bindu’s astutely balanced writing allows children to merrily consume the text while providing enough pegs for adults to hang their concerns from.

The director, Mayukh Dutta, sensitively transports the text from print to performance by incorporating almost equal parts of performative elements that would appeal to children and adults. Although the play is focused on the decidedly adult link between toxic hyper-masculinity and rabid war-mongering, Dutta accords primacy to elements that children would naturally love performing without having to ‘act’ too much. The flamboyant costumes and the physical acting packed with jostling, head-butting and frequent dancing are designed to give children (both performers and audience) maximum delight. On the other hand, the on-stage singing (by adult performers) is deftly strategized, chiefly through the loaded lyrics, to connect to much older viewers brought up on a diet of Kabir Suman.

The children performed with a singular sense of abandon. While children generally do act their hearts out, these children never allow performative indiscipline to disfigure their efforts. This speaks volumes about Chetla Krishti Sansad’s grooming of its wards, allowing children to be children without compromising on the rigour that theatre demands.