RENGAKELI

Prakash Kala Kendra was established in 1958 at Neeravil, a village situated close to the Ashtamudi lake in Kollam district of Kerala, with the objective of providing the aspiring youth of the locality with a forum for creative expression. Over the years, this organisation has grown and matured into one of the most prominent cultural organizations of southern Kerala, with a strong brigade of actors, theatre persons and other artists who have been trained and nurtured by it contributing a great way to the amateur theatre movement in Kerala.

Prakash Kala Kendra has conceived and organized several innovative programmes to inculcate theatrical skills in children and youth. The organisation has a splendid track record of training children in all aspects of theatre such as script writing, acting, direction, costume design, make up and back ground setting, with the help of volunteering professionals from all across the state. Moreover, several famous theatre personalities, directors, make up artists etc have visited the organization and handled demonstration classes for its members. The organization also has to its credit many theatre productions and plays that have bagged accolades at the state and national levels .

The diversified activities of Prakash Kala Kendra include a library, pre primary school, and an ‘Arts School’ that gives training on dance, tabla, painting and music. The organization has its own space to house all these activities. A full fledged auditorium is under construction, the completion of which is fast progressing.

The organization has conducted several awareness programs and workshops in the field of theatre in association with prestigious institutions. For example, the National Workshop on Theatre Techniques conducted in 2001, in collaboration with the Regional Resource Centre of the National School of Drama, Bangalore, was a great success. The contributions of the organisation are unparalleled as evident from the several citations and awards obtained by it all through these years.

The organization believes that theatre could be an integral part of the curriculum of school education as it would help children keenly observe the world around them, empathize with it and improvise incidents, experiences and emotions through organic expressions. However, we have not exhaustively explored the rejuvenating and refreshing effect of theatre on children and the vast developmental potential thereof.

In a bid to widen the activities of the organization with vision mentioned above it is proposed to establish a sustainable mechanism to develop theatrical skills of children as a part of their comprehensive personality development. Emphasis would be given to the less-endowed section of the society, who are otherwise denied such opportunities. Participating children would be selected from comparatively low socio economic backgrounds. A semi permanent training facility to conduct structured programmes to impart theatrical skills to children would also be formulated and implemented subsequently.

RENGAKELI
CHILDRES THEATRE FESTIVAL & THEATRE CAMP
APRIL 21-29
PRAKASH KALA KENDRAM AUDITORIUM