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“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf” – Rabindranath Tagore

Hello and welcome to the first official blog of Chitra: The Girl Prince; a mainstage production in the 25th Anniversary Season of our very own Northwest Children’s Theater. Introductions first – I am Ritu; and since you found your way to the blog, I’m pretty sure that we have something in common - we are most likely head over heels in love with theatre. My love affair with the performing arts began at the age of 10 or 11, but was relegated to the back-burner in favor of more mundane pursuits (not for lack of encouragement though). My career in dance, so to speak, really took off after moving to Portland, thanks to my immensely talented friends here. When an opportunity to document this production at the prestigious Northwest Children’s Theater came along, including a chance to meet some of the most renowned and talented performing artists in the field, who in their right mind would pass it up! Warmest gratitude to Anita and Sarah for this wonderful opportunity and for having faith in me. Also, thank you Sudipta for letting me co-author the blog.

Now for the topic at hand; the production that I have been talking about so much, Chitra: The Girl Prince is the brainchild of Anita Menon and Sarah Jane of the Northwest Children’s Theater. Almost a year and half in the making, this original play has been adapted from Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Chitrangada’, which tells the story of a young warrior princess from Manipur, standing up in defiance to societal norms and gender stereotypes.

Gone are the days when a children’s tale attributed words like ‘beauty’ & ‘modesty’ to girls while reserving ‘valour’ or ‘strength’ for men. Chitra breaks the stereotypes; she is her own knight in shining armor. She is raised as a warrior, a protector, an epitome of strength, taking on roles that were traditionally attributed to men.

This production sees the collaboration of two titans!! Sarah Jane - the extremely gifted Artistic Director of NWCT; and Anita Menon - a glittering gem of the Asian-American diaspora and the Founder/Director of Anjali School of Dance. They first collaborated in the phenomenally successful Jungle Book. That play went on to receive 4 PAMTA nominations. Following its resounding success, both Sarah and Anita have been invited to speak at various conferences around the country, namely, the Art of Leadership (2015 & 2016) by Regional Arts and Culture Council Portland, StateraCon 2016 in Denver, Colorado - Women in Theater Conference and the One Theater World 2017 in San Francisco, California - Theater for Young Audiences Conference.

You can see an excerpt of their fantastic production here:

Egged on by this success story, Northwest Children’s Theater brings to you this epic tale from the Mahabharata, a tale that spans generations, cultures and borders, a tale truly synonymous with our times. Want to know more about the journey?? Stay tuned!!

#theater #Chitra #NorthwestChildrensTheater