Apart from perhaps a few countries like Sweden that have a rooted and cherished tradition of Children's Theatre, it is not very usual to come across productions for children (enjoyed equally by adults too) that can awe you. But Vahan Badalyan's OPHELIA'S SHADOW THEATRE is like experiencing one of those rare moments. The play is a nostalgic picture story, a fairy-tale about Ophelia who is now a rather old woman living in a small town. With her voice too soft and too quiet to become an actress Ophelia had to work as a prompter at the local theatre instead. However, when the theatre is being closed she discovers the lonely and forlorn shadows of the theatre characters, takes them home with her and teaches them to act in Ophelia's Shadow Theatre. After she has lost her apartment she puts them all into her car and tries to make a new start. Then an accident happens and the shadow of death joins the group. From now on they play together at heaven's door for the angels of light. The performance is in a cross over of dramatic, mime and shadow theaters. Vahan Badalyan, Artistic Director of the Small Theatre at the National Centre of Aesthetics in Yerevan, Armenia speaks to Mumbai Theatre Guide about his Theatre and this quite special production.
Deepa Punjani
What is your Theatre all about? Do you only work with children and young adults?
Our theatre was founded about 25 years ago on the basis of a dramatic studio with a mission to make an independent creative process possible, as well as to become a platform for realizing different educational programs for young people and teenagers who are interested in theatre art.
Small Theater is a part of the National Center of Aesthetics which has different Master- Studios where children and young adults learn Painting, Sculpture, Music, Dance etc.
The basement of our theatre is the Dramatic Studio, but we also have group of young professional actors.
In OPHELIA'S SHADOW THEATRE, the actors all seem to be between 8 and 14 years at best. Is this usually the case? Yes, it is usual for the performances where children from our Studio are involved. In our repertory we have four performances where the actors are between 8 to 18 years old.
Theatre education or training children and young adults is an integral part of your theatre model. Can you elaborate on it?
Educational programs and trainings are the base of our Theatre. Three times in a week we have lessons for different age groups(6-9, 10-14, 14-16), where children and young adults study Acting Skills, Stage Speech, Stage Movement and Dances. Besides we very often organize workshops for our students as well as for the students of National Theatre schools and invite teachers, directors also from the other countries like Italy, Germany and France.
One of the things that struck me about OPHELIA'S SHADOW THEATRE is the ease and the professionalism with which the young actors play out their parts and the way in which they also effortlessly manage the scene transitions. Is this also true of your other productions?
Yes, because it is one of my goals in the Theater that I do. Besides the joy of Acting and creativity, technical things also have to meet high standards in our performances.
As a director, what is your methodology, or what processes do you follow in working with young people?
The first important thing is the independence and joyful creativity. We have a system of games and exercises for developing children's as well as the students' imagination, creative skills, attention and memory. We improvise a lot at the beginning of the work. Also there are some exercises for developing the expressiveness of action, plasticity of body, as well as the sense of rhythm and co-ordination.
Children are involved very much in the process of making the performance. Besides the Acting, they actively participate in choosing the theme or story, in the design, and in the making of the set and costumes.
What are your challenges?
Generally I don't like to concentrate on challenges. As I love to say "challenges are the points where we have to start!".
Since the previous five or six years our theater has gained recognition and is quite well-known in Yerevan. The audiences are very interested in our performances and activities. We have participated in several International and National theater festivals and had received good reviews and comments. We were awarded the Armenian Theatrical Award ARTAVAZD for the performances DIARY OF A MADMAN (2007) and OPHELIA'S SHADOW THEATRE (2008). All these give us a lot of power and energy for our future work.
Do you receive any kind of state support for your theatre?
We receive a small amount in terms of financial support from our state. But during the past few years, our Ministry of Culture strongly supports us in participating in International theater festivals and in realizing different kinds of co-productions.
Upto what age do the children continue acting in the various productions of your theatre company?
There are children which are already 20 years old and they are still attending the lessons and continue to play in our performances. Usually our fixed education is 2 years long, but if they want to continue, they have this possibility .
Are there similar other theatre/performing arts' groups in Yerevan and elsewhere in Armenia such as yours?
Unfortunately, no. There are two or three amateur groups in the regular schools but I think it is not enough to say that we have some kind of process or tradition in Children's Theater.
Honestly, I become very jealous when I see what importance and sense children's theatre is given in some countries abroad.
