Sound Play for Visually-challenged

BANGALORE: In an unique experience for nearly 40 visually- challenged children on Tuesday, they were treated to a play performed specially for them by a group of blind-folded actors.Presenting an essentially visual medium like theatre to the visually impaired were Sankara Eye Hospital in association with an interactive theatre group Yours Truly Theatre, which performed ‘Black Rainbow- Theatre Performance for the visually impaired’.Presented on the occasion of World Sight Day, the event was an attempt to make the art form available to the visually impaired. After having conducted a photography workshop for the blind last year, the team from Sankara decided to experiment with theatre this year.Conceptualised and enacted spontaneously, a group of four actors from Yours Truly Theatre performed three short plays using ‘soundscapes’. One of the founders of Yours Truly Theatre Ranji David asked the audience, “What comes to your mind when you think of Bangalore as a city.”Based on the responses, the group of four actors spontaneously composed a play and presented it. Members of the audience, who were visually-abled, were asked to blindfold themselves to experience the play. “ The visually-challenged can achieve a lot. They do not need our sympathy. All they need is a little motivation,” said Dr Kaushik of the Sankara Eye Hospital.