Date:07/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/07/stories/2007120761930300.htm

New Delhi

Street plays mark Volunteers Day

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: To mark International Volunteers Day, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti had organised its annual festival of street plays at its Tees January Marg premises here.

“Festival of Street Plays” was an attempt to promote public awareness on important social issues through the innovative platform of street plays. The festival saw 10 educational institutions joining hands with the Samiti to create social awareness on issues like child labour, environment, pollution and global warming. Inaugurating the festival, theatre personality Bhanu Bharati said: “Theatre is not just a medium to be practised for the elite. It is, indeed, a tool that can be employed to voice the feelings of those whose circumstances have forced them into silence and suffering.”

Besides representatives from Gyan Mandir School, Naraina, St. Paul’s School, Bharati Public School and Mother Teresa, volunteer organisations like Kalyanam from Lal Quan and Ashray Adhikar Abhiyaan (Right to Shelter) from Yamuna Pushta also participated in the programme by showcasing their activities.

The winners in the festival were children from Green Fields School, Safdarjung Enclave, who performed a play on global warming.