High School Musical ?

Preconceived notions are meant to be debunked. You walk into a press conference to meet the head of an integral department of the Central School of Speech and Drama (London),expecting to make polite conversation with a man in a crisp suit and a crisper accent. But Bruce Wooding saunters into the hall wearing crimson Jodhpurs and what looks like an Ed Hardy t-shirt. He beams at everybody and proves to be an incredibly polite interviewee. The Head of the School of Professional and Community Development of the CSSD confesses that India has fascinated him ever since his first trip to Mumbai and Goa back in early 1990s. “Art and theatre are a part of your everyday life isn’t it ? But we came down and destroyed everything with our lofty ideas about civilisation,” he tsk tsks.

Wooding,it seems,is wants to make amends. “I am learning kathak back home in London. Since I am the only guy in my class my instructor makes it a point to make me dance in the front,” he says. For the past two years Wooding has been doing something more concrete to cement his ties with India. The Annual Inter School Drama Festival,which is organised by CSSD and supported by British Council (Kolkata), will be able to promote the idea of “theatre in classroom as one of the most effective communication tools for learning and sharing knowledge,concepts,skills and techniques”. Participating students were given the opportunity of being a part of all expenses paid summer school at the Central school in London.

In the past two years,Wooding has worked with batches of Kolkata school students and seems to be suitably impressed with their “dedication to their craft” and “discipline”. When you tell him about the horror story of a Rouvanjit Roula,he seems disturbed. “The children I have interacted with seemed to be well-adjusted and happy. Their teachers too seem to be totally dedicated. I feel a certain amount of discipline is needed. But corporal punishment is way too harsh,” he says.

During his stay in Kolkata,Wooding hopes to catch a show of Kaushik Sen’s Birpurush,where one of his past pupils is the lead. “I am quite excited about this. I want to see how he performs. I remember him as a very intuitive and sensitive boy. He has also shown an interest to join our school,” he beams.