Chennai:
Chennai's very own international theatre festival for children "The Little Festival" is a grand success. Into its fifth edition, around five thousand children flocked to watch three internationally acclaimed productions from Israel, Korea and India.
With sub-titles shown on monitors, the foreign language was not a barrier for little children to appreciate the plays.
After watching the Korean play "The Tiger with White Eyebrows" a class two student told NDTV, "Watching this you learn a lot". Another added "our school too should stage plays, wish we would get a theatre in our school".
A high school student said "we learned how to use a movement in different in different ways, yes that is creative actually".
The festival had a humble beginning 19 years ago as the city's "Little Theatre", producing the annual pantomime during Christmas to develop love for art among children. Aysha Rau, the Managing Trustee, explains, "We need to develop a liking for arts because that's going to help them later on in life, help them with the imagination to become creative thinkers and that's what I think India requires."
The Consul General of the Republic of Korea, Kyungsoo Kim, who supported the cause told NDTV, "Children around the world have the same feelings and same sentiments so yes it builds some bond between kids all around the world".
Chennai has always been a home for theatre and music and this international festival for young audiences, many see as an affirmation of its connect with art.