Multiple hats at a time

As a part of Hyderabad Children’s Theatre Festival 2016, the play ‘Elephant in the Room’ was staged by Yuki Ellias, a Mumbai-based theatre artist at Shilpakala Vedhika.

The play was one of its kind because there were four characters and only one artist, Yuki Ellias, played all the characters.

The play is about a young boy, Master Tusk, who has been given a new head; an elephant’s head. Confused with his new avatar he realises that he lost his way in the forest.

He faces many dangerous situations in the forest. In the same forest a couple Makadi and Moork also live. The couple wants to kidnap the Master Tusk to create chaos in the forest.

But their plan goes wrong when a prophecy is revealed and changes everything. The play is a solo theatre performance about the whimsical adventures of a young boy in search of his missing head.

It’s a coming-of-age story with eccentric characters, whose destinies intertwine in a plot that twists and thrills.

“The play was inspired by the world of Indian mythology, and it pays homage to the God Lord Ganesha, in this quirky and poignant reinterpretation of the story,” said Yuki Ellias, actor and director of the play.

“I am very happy to perform here. Hyderabad people always encourage arts. The play has only one character (that’s me).

It was also difficult for one person to act in four to five characters in a play but I did well,” she adds.