The Little
Prince
Also known as
Kutti Ilavarasan (Tamil)
(a play for your children and the child within you)
An Adaption of story ‘The Little Prince’ written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Directed by
Vasanth Selvam
60 Minutes
Tamil
Suitable Age Group: 5+
Produced by: Silk Route Theatre, Pondicherry
Co-Producer: Indianostrum Théâtre, Artist Coupe & Alliance Française of Chennai.
CAST & CREDIT
Performers: Maya S Krishnan, Lakshmipriyaa Chandramouli
Associate Director: Maya S Krishnan
Scenography: A. Vasudevan
Set fabrication: Joseph Bernard
THANKS TO
- Indianostrum Theatre, to believe in the play and provide its support
- Anjana Balaji, Rathinavel, Mati Rajput, Keerti Pandian and Natraj for their artistic collaboration
SILK ROUTE
‘Silk Route’ is an Indian art organisation founded in 2019 by a group of young artists who strongly felt the need to share Knowledge, to make ‘Knowledge in Art’ more accessible to young people from all walks of life. In a country like India, where there is an increasing drift between Contemporary and Traditional art practices there is an increasing need to create critical conversations between artists, to transfer knowledge to the younger generation and create systems to preserve the livelihood of artists.
Art is a collective human journey. In our present times, where humans are becoming more and more individualistic, we have lost our unique ways of sharing knowledge. SILK ROUTE is a platform which will lay various diverse paths for the knowledge to flow. East, West, Urban, Rural, Tradition and Contemporary will meet each other. Color, Caste, Language, Gender based differences will be challenged. Young Minds will be empowered to believe in magic, the magic of art. Beds will be laid to lie down and dream. Silk Route is for our little prince & princess to travel and explore the world.
VASANTH SELVAM
Vasanth Selvam is a theatre actor. He learnt theatre by practice from his mentor Koumarane Valavane, along with whom he later co-founded ‘Indianostrum Théâtre’, a theatre company based in Pondicherry. Under the direction of Koumarane Valavane he has performed in notable creations like Land of Ashes, Kunti-Karna, Karuppu, Chandâla impure, which have been performed in leading Indian Theatre festivals, at Theatre du Soleil (France) and at The Festival of Francophonies (France). He has also been associated with Rajiv Krishnan (Perch Theatre). He made his debut in cinema with Jacques Audiard’s Palme d’Or winner (2015) movie ‘Dheepan’. In 2019, he worked with legendary theatre director Peter Brook in his play “The Prisoner”. Currently, he is working with the theatre director Caroline Guiela Nguyen from France, in her latest play ‘Fraternite – Contes Fantastiques’ which is on its international tour.
Vasanth has made his foray in the field of direction with The Little Prince.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
The story of “The Little Prince” is very close to my heart. I think it is like a time-machine. It makes you travel back in your life and brings you to the shore of your past memories. The memories as a kid- of talking to trees, flowers, dogs, cats, birds or even non-living objects ; then the memories as a teenager- experiencing a strange feeling for the first time with that special person without knowing how to handle it; and then as an adult -choosing a career to conform to the norms of society even at the cost of burying your own dreams and aspirations. For all these reasons the story of the Little Prince has stayed with me.
As a theatre maker I always dreamt of creating something for children that will appeal, both to kids and adults alike. The Little Prince stood there strongly to help me to take my first step in that direction. It is neither a fairy tale nor a factual story. It floats somewhere between the realms of fantasy and reality, which makes it more interesting.
In this play I have tried not to lose the magic that was created for me when I read The Little Prince for the first time. I believe this play will transform kids and adults into Little Prince/Princess. It will make them wander on forgotten paths in a desert far away from their homes, where they will be free to just sit and watch the stars, weep in silence, laugh, hop in happiness, or just fall asleep out of tiredness over a sand dune under the watch of thousands of stars surrounded by a flower, a snake and a fox.
SYNOPSIS
When did we last gaze at a star? When did we last smell a flower? When did we last love?
We adults are masters in losing the things which brought light in our eyes.
Adults are strange !
Was an adult born directly as an adult? No… Every adult started the same way, as a baby. The arrival of a baby is much celebrated by grownups – the baby is declared prince or princess of the family! The little ones in turn cast a spell on the family, bringing much joy and colour to the household, transforming it into a small theatre. Here, the little ones give never-ending performances with a twinkle in their eyes which in turn helps the adults to find back their long-lost twinkle even if it’s just for a moment.
But how did this little one become an adult themselves? When did they lose the twinkle in their eyes?
And where is he now, The Little Prince?
He is sitting calmly in the depths of our hearts humming a lullaby.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT (The following technical requirement is for travel performances)
- A performance space (20 ft by 20 ft minimum)
- Access to two plug points with individual switches in the performance space
VIDEO LINK OF THE PLAY (Kindly do not share this link)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1leOV7JJEXxsl5x3AKFpOIOpnuVvKKx4M/view?usp=sharing
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silkroute.theatre
Website: www.silkroute.theatre.in
Performance- 2022:
In the month of February, The Little Prince (Kutti Ilavarasan) play was recreated and performed 13 times in various locations in Chennai, meeting different communities of children.
Summer Tour -2022
We are looking to work together with other art organizations and communities to find various performance venues in cities in Tamil Nadu from March 2022 to July 2022 where the play will be performed during the tour.