Dancing
to the rhythm of the dhol, girls dressed in white kurtas and colourful dupattas
enter from the curtains on either side of the stage amidst a burst of bright bougainvillea
flowers. They shower flowers at the little Krishna (Karthik) in the centre and at
each other as if playing a game.
Some boys
in white kurtas enter, playfully colour each other, and also tease the girls.
As the
music fades, the children sit in a semi-circle and pretend to have fun.
Enter a
non-Indian boy, Ivar.
Ivar: Hi! What’s
happening here? Why are you dancing?
Ayman: We are celebrating the Holi festival.
Ivar: Is it a HOLY festival? (He displays a card kept on stage and
spells out H-O-L-Y.)
Bhairavi: It is a Hindu festival and it is called HOLI (She
displays card kept on stage and spells out H-O-L-I.)
Ivar: That’s interesting. Tell me more about this
festival.
Shashank: Holi is a spring festival and is also known
as the ‘Festival of colours’.
Do you want to hear the story of Holi?
Ivar: Yes! (Stands on one side and watches what happens on stage.)
There was once a Demon King.
(Enter Britt,
who plays the Demon King.)
He had special powers and was an enemy of the gods.
He was cruel and killed people.
Smruthi: The
Demon King had a son, the Prince, who was different.
(Enter
Arush, who plays the Prince.)
The Prince did not like his father’s evil ways and
became a follower of God Vishnu.
The Demon King became very angry and decided to kill
the Prince.
Anna:
The Demon King had a sister named Holika.
(Enter Brinna,
who plays Holika.)
Holika
had magical powers and could not be harmed by the flames.
A huge bonfire was lit.
(The girls
and boys turn around a display board kept in the centre of the stage with a card-paper bonfire stuck on it by some mums.)
Shashank: Holika dragged the Prince into the fire. The
Prince prayed to God Vishnu.
Holika went up in flames and the Prince was protected
by God Vishnu.
(Enter Pratyush,
who plays God Vishnu. Holika pretends to burn and sits behind the flames. God
Vishnu leads the Prince outside the fire.)
God Vishnu also killed the Demon King.
(God
Vishnu kills and drags the Demon King to the curtains.)
Holi is celebrated as the triumph of good over evil.
On the night before the festival a huge bonfire is
built.
This reminds people of the wicked witch Holika, the
King’s sister who led the Prince to the fire.
Bhairavi: Next day, the real fun begins. People play
tricks and throw coloured water or powder on each other.
Girls (to Ivar): Would you like
to play Holi with us?
Ivar: Yes, of course!
(All
gather in a circle and throw flowers at each other saying “Holi hai!”.
Lastly,
all the children arrange themselves in a straight line and say “Happy
Holi” and
take a bow as the music fades.)
(This
presentation was put up at school on 20th March by the little actors
and their enterprising mums. Some children were allergic to Holi colours so we used flowers.)
