The RCB Theatre Club presents ROBI’S GARDEN, a wholesome family entertainer based on the writings of Rabindranath Tagore, on September 12 and 13 at the Alliance Francaise. It is directed by veteran theatre personality Vijay Padaki and backed by the technical expertise of Bangalore Little Theatre.
Robi’s Garden is an original script and has been adapted for the stage by Vijay Padaki to celebrate Tagore’s work for and with children. The material for the theatrical production is drawn from a great fund of Tagore’s writing, a lot of it for children, but all of it enjoyed by a general audience as well. These include verse, short stories, plays and sketches (his “riddle plays”), fantasies, autobiographical writing, (esp. his childhood memories), and the letters to his grand-daughter and other children. The play had a successful London production in 2014. The play begins when a small group of children visit Tagore’s ancestral home in Jorasanko, Kolkata. What follows is an engaging series of short plays as the visitors are drawn into the magical world of imagination as jackals and tigers, pundits and kings, godmen, cobblers and consultants come alive on the courtyard stage. “There are quite a few tongue-in- cheek comments about contemporary affairs, as surprisingly enough, much of Tagore’s matter is relevant to modern times”, says Padaki.
The cast of Robi’s Garden in alphabetical order: Abhijit Raghunathan, Aditya Mendonca, Amit Bahirat, Deepak Nakra, Deepan Thirumurugan, Divya Ponappa, Honey Mehta, Musten Jiruwala, Rekha Rudra, Sandhya Mendonca, Shailesh Rudra, Soloman Paramel, Swathi Padmanabhan and Vijay Rao. The Rotary Theatre Club is a new RCB initiative and aims at a variety of high quality theatre activities at RCB. These include public performances, in collaboration with Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT), the city’s oldest and most widely respected theatre society, committed to the promotion of theatre and allied arts. Vijay Padaki, a Rotarian and a life member of BLT, is the principal mentor and facilitator at RCB’s Theatre Club.
The programme includes High Tea at 6.30 pm followed by the play at 7.30 pm. Donor Passes are available at the Rotary House of Friendship, Lavelle Road, Bengaluru, Call 22120317 and on the show days at Alliance Francaise.
