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MANGALORE: A two-day Vishwa Konkani Children Theatre Festival 2013, Rum Pum Po, that gets under way at the Town Hall here on Wednesday is all set to titillate cultural senses of various Konkani-speaking communities. Organized by the World Konkani Centre, the festival will showcase rich folktale tradition of the Konkani-speaking communities. The fest will have seven children’s drama of 30 minutes duration. The dramas will be presented in their respective dialects.

 Daryachi Maya in Kharvi dialect will kick-start the two-day festival. Other dramas that will be staged on the opening day include Chithal Thondacho Ghov in Kudali dialect, and Ajyapanchi Mudhi in Roman Catholic dialect. The day two will feature Vagh Devachi Katha in Kudubi dialect, Bhangrache Kens in Bhalavali dialect, Mhanthu Ani Rakshini in Chaptekar Saraswath dialect and Navarangi Phool in Gowd Saraswath Brahmin dialect.

 Gurudatt Bantwalkar, assistant director, World Konkani Centre, said organizing the festival in its true spirit is the motto of the centre - ’Integration through language’. Elders from different Konkani-speaking communities participated in a folktale script workshop conducted by the centre in September and a set of seven stories were selected from various communities.

Gurudatt said members of the communities were given a framework to write scripts based on these folktales. These seven scripts were further produced for the stage by eminent associate directors in theatre workshops held at seven different locations in the coastal Karnataka from October 10 to 15. "The entire theatre festival has been organised under the overall direction and guidance of Jagan Pawar Bekal, principal director," he said.

 The seven dramas will involve participation of around 150 children from the various Konkani-speaking communities. For most of these children, especially those from the kharvi and Kudali communities, it will be their first ever experience of acting in a drama at any level, he said. "The theatre festival is also an earnest attempt to revive the oral literary traditions that the above mentioned Konkani speaking communities have," he added.