Magic and mayhem all through November!

Gillo Repertory Theatre's
MISTER JEEJEEBHOY AND THE BIRDS English, 45 min
Suggested age 4 years to 10 years

Originally commissioned by the Kala Ghoda Children's Literature Festival as a part of the KALA GHODA ARTS FESTIVAL 2012 in Mumbai

Story by Anitha Balachandran
Published by Young Zubaan

Performed by: Manoj Karki, Jigna Khajuria, Sriparna Chatterjee, Janit Temkar/Barkha Fatnani, Prasad Dagare and John Soans/Sahil Gangurde
Design: Tanya Mahajan and Prasad Dagare
Music: Sharvari Deshpande and Vighnesh Sinkar
Direction: Shaili Sathyu

The story:
Two siblings, one very strange Aunt, and a flock of escaped birds... Magic and mayhem comes in unexpected shapes and sizes to one small corner of a very big city.
Each part of this spectacular story by Anitha Balachandran will delight and amaze children. Together with the delightfully quirky text, this unique story brings to life the wonders of our city and the world seen through the eyes of these two - rather special - young children.

Mister Jeejeebhoy... has been performed in Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore, at schools, literature festivals and in theatres.


Upcoming shows:
26th and 27th November 2019 in New Delhi
At Pitara TYA Festival, Bal Bhavan

Gillo's natak bus is getting ready for Pune district and Karnataka

Gillo Repertory Theatre was founded in 2009-10 in Mumbai. Over the past ten years we have been primarily working in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), including an audience of children between the ages of 1 to 18 years. Our plays are created for specific age-groups of children and involve a strong pedagogic approach. So far we have performed nearly 500 shows to over 95,000 children across India.
 

We have been consciously trying to reach out to a wider audience and also make our shows more inclusive. For this, in 2012 we launched our initiative ‘Making Theatre Accessible’, inviting children from underserved backgrounds into the theatre. To widen the reach of our work to children in rural and semi-urban areas as well, in 2017 we went on a Road Trip in a bus, a natak bus, across Karnataka, taking plays and workshops to places outside of metros, especially rural areas. After a very fulfilling and enlightening tour, we expanded the project to 2 states in 2018-19, Maharashtra and Karnataka. 

We are now entering the 3rd year of this project and our natak bus shall re-visit most of the places that were a part of the project over the past 2 years. We have scheduled a 15 day tour of Maharashtra in Sept 2019 and a 21 day tour of Karnataka over Jan-Feb 2020. Along with performances, this year we shall also be conducting training sessions for local artists and educators at 3 locations in Karnataka, so they can be enabled to provide theatre and arts based experiences to children in their villages and towns.

To contribute, visit:

https://www.ketto.org/gillo-on-the-go-2019-20

Sept 2019 - Maharashtra
12 to 14 Sept - at Kamshet with The Company Theatre Workspace, performing at neighbouring villages - Nane, Uksan, Govitri and Kambre

15 to 22 Sept - in Pune city and outskirts, with local schools and NGOs, including Door Step School, Akshardeep-Swadhar and Jidnyasa Learning Centre

21 Sept - public show at Gyaan Adab, Kalyani Nagar, Pune

23 to 26 Sept - at Somatane, Uruli Kanchan, Sasawad and Wadgaon with Vanasthali Rural Development Centre (VRDC)

The Gillo Team