Musical play by students brings the house down

Chandigarh, August 23

The quintessential romance of the Georgian era — ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen — was enacted by 117 students of St Kabir Public School in Sector 26 here today.

The play was directed by Zubin Mehta and was based on an adaptation by Bernard J Taylor. The story revolved on the conflict between marrying for love and marrying for economic reasons as is seen in the Bennet family. It was an engaging tale of young love and the trouble, including how to overcome one’s pride and prejudice in pursuit of true love. The characters were enacted by Manya Wadhwa as Elizabeth Bennet and Aryan Kalia as Fitzwilliam Darcy. Gurbani Mann played the role of Mrs Bennet. Lady de Burgh was played by Anayat Virk. The songs was sung by the school choir, which included four talented students from Class X and XI, added to the overall romantic mood with the help of the music of Paulus Paul and Ondry Paul.

Deeptha Vivekananda and Nanki Mann contributed as assistant directors and costume designers, respectively, while the ballroom dance was choreographed by Puneet Jewandah and Kritika Sharma. “Being an intense drama, with each character having an equally important role to play, it took a lot of time just to understand the text, characters, their idiosyncrasies and weaknesses,” said Mehta. — TNS