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A spectacle with substance

Photos: K Ramesh Babu

The journey begins The king and the queen; young Simba enjoys life with his best friend Nala

Ingenium Dramatics, a young theatre group, presented Simba, The Lion King, a musical adaptation of the popular story, The Lion King, at Ravindra Bharati on Friday.

The Lion King is the story of a lion cub’s journey through life’s ups and downs. Simba’s happy, pampered life as a prince comes to a tragic pass when his power-hungry uncle Scar murders his father, King Mufasa, and engineers it to look like Mufasa died trying to save Simba from the hyenas. Scar sends the vulnerable, guilt-ridden Simba away from the kingdom in exile. Simba goes away and befriends the adorable Timon, a meerkat, and Pumba, a warthog, and leads a happy, untroubled life in the jungle.

As he approaches adulthood, however, his past catches up with him. Rafiki, the baboon, an old friend of Mufasa’s, runs into him and Nala, the lioness, his best friend, sets out in search for help and to her surprise finds Simba alive.

In the belief that he would return, defeat Scar, take his rightful place on the throne and set them free from Scar’s tyrannical rule, Nala convinces him to return to his kingdom. With the support extended by his father from his heavenly abode and Nala’s help and courage, Simba succeeds and takes his place in the ‘circle of life’.

Directors Natasha and Amit are very lucky to have worked with such a talented crew of actors, musicians and dancers. Some actors, however, deserve special mention. Sahit, who played Scar, was brilliant and Amrita (Nala) sang beautifully and played her role with lithe grace. Akshay’s performance as young Simba was memorable too. Timon and Pumba, played by Ananth and Avantika, were adorable. Ananth handled the falling off of his thermocol face with aplomb. The music, splendidly handled by Suhit, Aditya, Nandita and Amit, stood out despite the sound system at Ravindra Bharati doing it no favours. Sisters Amrita, Natasha and Vichitra sang marvellously.

Art Director Vichitra and Deeksha did a good job with sets that were effective without being in-your-face. Prashant did an impressive job with the costumes. The lighting was well done but the lasers were overemployed, often becoming the main focus rather than serving to enhance the performances of the actors.

Simba, The Lion King left the audience eagerly looking forward to Ingenium’s next production.

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