Kuttikalam and puppetry come alive AFTER 18 days of sojourn into the world of theatre, a group of 22 kids staged a play, Kuttikalam (childhood days), resurrecting the old comedian Charlie Chaplin's rough childhood at Hari Sree Vidhya Nidhi School, in Poonkunnam. Chaplin who lived in London had suffered a poverty ridden life. The play is a narration of the slices taken out from his childhood to death. Kuttikalam is penned by Sreejish Pochara. Thalaam cultural trust organised the workshop for the students under the age of 15. It is a workshop, being conducted yearly by the trust. Children were trained in to script writing, direction, and acting. Theatre artiste Suresh Mechery who provided the students with various techniques of theatre performances is happy with children's performance. "Most of them are simply superb," says Suresh, who is a full time theatre performer. He has directed plays in different parts of the state. It was also an unforgettable experience for the children to play a puppet show, as the workshop constituted training in puppetry, too. "It's a pioneering workshop held in a school in the state," says Rajan Pootharakkal, who have taken up puppetry as profession. He introduced puppetry to children with a new style of storytelling. The workshop started on May 8 and children have been in action all through the days. Now they all are actors, directors and scriptwriters!