GULABO AUR PARIZAAD

Gillo Theatre Repertory’s GULABO AUR PARIZAAD

A charming little tale about a little mouse and an even littler elf.

LANGUAGE Urdu

DURATION: 1 hr (no interval)

Gulabo aur Parizaad is a story about a little mouse and a parizaad (elf). The play is based on two stories by Begum Qudsia Zaidi, published in the 1950s.

How do you make friends with someone who is most unlike you? Getting to know this new person can be funny and strange, all at the same time. The parizaad shares his stories from across the universe and takes Gulabo on a wonderful, magical journey.

They become friends, they play and party together and finally part ways. This is a charming tale of a friendship that lasts a few moments, but is remembered for a lifetime.

About Begum Zaidi

Begum Qudsia Zaidi, writer, social worker and theatre practitioner, is best remembered for her pioneering role in establishing the Hindustani Theatre in Delhi in the 1950s. But Begum Zaidi's first love was writing for children. She was very fond of illustrated stories. During her days in Rampur she wrote and translated a number of books for children and this interest was to continue all her life. In Delhi she became an active part of Shankar's Weekly Children's Art Competitions and Book Trust. She was encouraged to continue writing children’s stories and plays in Urdu by Dr.Zakir Hussain, an eminent educationist who later became the President of India. ‘Chacha Chakkan ke draamey’ is one of her most loved and performed series of plays for children. Among her stories, 'Gandhi Baba ki Kahani' and 'Gulabo chuhiya aur gubbare' have been most popular and still in print.

About Gillo

Gillo Theatre Repertory works exclusively in Theatre for Young Audiences, which includes content development, performance and training. Our focus is on developing and showcasing original Indian content; developing value for performing arts; creating age-specific performances; training performers and making theatre more accessible to children.

We have a group of adult performers who stage short and full length plays for children of different age groups. Our current productions include Kyun-Kyun Ladki Hanuman Ki Ramayan, Taoos Chaman Ki Myna, She-He-Shey and other short plays. Though created for younger audiences, many of our productions equally appeal to adult and as a result we are now regularly invited to perform at theatre festivals across India.

Creative workshops for children, teachers and parents are an important part of our effort to engage children and their community with the theatre arts.

CAST & CREDITS

Story: Begum Qudsia Zaidi

Adaptation: Shaili Sathyu

Design: Abir Patwardhan

Music: Hetal Varia

Movement: Timira Gupta

Cast: Devina Medda, Ghanshyam Tiwari, Vinati Makijany, Janit Temkar, Amit Bhargava, Manoj Karki

Production team: Tanya Mahajan, Afsana Ahmed, Shreyans Iyer, Jigna Khajuria, Pratik Shah, Nishna Mehta and others

For more information on Begum Qudsia Zaidi and the centenary celebrations, see
https://www.facebook.com/BegumQudsiaZaidi and
http://www.begumqudsiazaidi.wordpress.com/