The Little Prince

Adults always celebrate the birth of a child-like an arrival of a little prince or a princess. The little ones bring joy and magic to the life of adults which is otherwise grey and dull. The mothers imagine new songs and fathers devise new games to amuse their prince/ princess. The home gets transformed into a small theatre where these little ones will give never-ending performances with a twinkle in their eyes. Just a look at them is enough for these adults to get the lost twinkle in their eyes back even if it is for a moment.

Adults are strange people.

Was an adult born directly as an adult? No.. every person before growing up into an adult was a little prince/princess to their parents. But when did this little one became an adult? How did they lose the twinkle in their eyes? 

When did we last gaze at a star?  When did we last smell a flower? When did we, last love? 

And where is he now, The Little Prince? 

He is sitting calmly in the depths of our hearts humming a lullaby. 

Group Info:

Indianostrum Théâtre was founded by Koumarane Valavane, a French-Indian Director in the year 2007, along with a few young actors who were ready to gamble their flourishing careers in conventional fields over their passion for theatre.
Indianostrum’s core aim is to expand the role of modern theatre in the cultural life of the country, by developing new modern texts, finding the specificity of Indian modern theatre, exploring its relationships with traditional forms and transcending political, social and historical divides.

Director's Bio:

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 (2017 & 2018), Paris, France and at The Festival of Francophonies at Limoges, France (2018). He has also been associated with Rajiv Krishnan (Perch Theatre) and contemporary Dancer Preethi  Athreya. He made his debut in cinema with Jacques Audiard’s Palme d'Or winner movie ‘Dheepan’ in 2015. He is a regular practitioner of Kalaripayattu – a martial art form from Kerala. He has also undertaken training in Theru Koothu and Kathakali – traditional theatre forms of Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively.  

Vasanth made 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.