Students from the 8th standard of Ernakulam Government Girls Higher Secondary School performing a play titled Kochudevadharu, based on Sergei Mikhalkov’s story, which is part of their Malayalam textbook, on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat
A Russian tale, Kochudevadharu, in their new Malayalam textbook, will remain etched in the hearts of 65-odd eighth standard students across two divisions in the Government High School, Ernakulam, for long.
For, they didn’t simply learn it, but turned it into a play, which was staged in the school last Thursday (July l0, 2025).. While 16 students acted in the play by the same name, the rest of the students were associated in one way or the other. For instance, those with crafting skill created the props like butterflies and trees while those who can paint coloured them.
“Altogether it took just just three hours to rehearse and stage the 21-minute play. Except for 40 minutes of Malayalam period taken to select the cast, the rest of the preparations were carried out without affecting the class hours. To stage such a play in such a short period since the start of the academic year is an achievement in itself thanks to the support of the school authorities and the PTA,” said C.S. Vishnuraj, the Malayalam teacher who is also an experienced amateur theatre activist.
Incidentally, this was the 60th amateur play to be directed by Mr. Vishnuraj who got transferred to Government Girl’s High School last month after serving at the Vennala Government High School for more than six years during the course of which he had conceived and staged many such plays.
The six-minute play he directed also competed at the State level as part of the NCERT Hindi role-play activities aimed at improving language skills and comprehension through interactive and engaging scenarios last year. The instant play had to based on a theme provided by NCERT and had to be staged without props, costume or music by the students in uniform.
“Theatre has a significant role to play in academics. Since one is unlikely to easily forget a visual or an image, teaching lessons through plays help in improved learning. Besides, given the opportunity, students are only too willing to perform, innovate, and improvise,” said Mr. Vishnuraj.
Published – July 12, 2025 12:43 pm IST