Shrirang Godbole gives new form to Dr Mohan Agashe’s Grips theatre movement

PUNE Rejuvenating the tradition of Grips theatre for children in Pune - which was first introduced 36 years ago by actor-psychiatrist Dr Mohan Agashe - and giving it new form is Shrirang Godbole, who will hold a mega Grips theatre festival in Pune with the help of his new initiative, Rainbow Umbrella Foundation, and the Maharashi Karve Stree Shikshan Sanstha

PUNE Rejuvenating the tradition of Grips theatre for children in Pune - which was first introduced 36 years ago by actor-psychiatrist Dr Mohan Agashe - and giving it new form is Shrirang Godbole, who will hold a mega Grips theatre festival in Pune with the help of his new initiative, Rainbow Umbrella Foundation, and the Maharashi Karve Stree Shikshan Sanstha. Godbole’s initiation in this form of theatre was with Dr Agashe and Volker Ludwig who originally started the movement in Germany in the 60s.

Rejuvenating the tradition of Grips theatre for children in Pune - which was first introduced 36 years ago by actor-psychiatrist Dr Mohan Agashe - and giving it new form is Shrirang Godbole, who will hold a mega Grips theatre festival in Pune. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

“I wanted to bring this very interesting form of children’s theatre to India, and was looking at who could help me with it. Satish Alekar was already a known name with his plays doing well and I knew Shrirang Godbole as a capable young man and I asked him to assist. He adapted the play ‘Max and Millie’ in Marathi as ‘Chan Chote, Vait Mothe’. This play was a minor miracle for Grips for it was unusually appealing,” said Dr Agashe.

Grips theatre movement in Pune in the 80’s , which was originally started in Germany by Volker Ludwig in the 60s. “This Grips theatre is very important for children and young adults, to its doers, parents, teachers and even the media for it was important as it was the time when new age parents did not have enough time for their children and the idea was to empower them, in an indirect way provide social imagination, connecting them with the reality of life,” said Dr Agashe.

With Dr Agashe’s organisational and acting prowess, the movement continued with the theatre academy from 1986 to 1996 and later with the Maharashtra Cultural Centre till 2021. Shrirang Godbole and Vibhawari Deshpande together have been writing plays, holding workshops to bring this informal kind of education to children to deal with their lives and problems through humour and music in plays.