Business Idea #0003: Project Aristotle – Reading Through Theatre

Project Aristotle is a business idea that’s “packed and ready to go”. I’ve analysed it extensively and even generated the financial projections and capital requirements. The only reason I haven’t put it into operation is I don’t have the capital to even form the NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) that would be the first step in making it live.

So I’m offering it here for anyone to take up.

The Aim:

The aim of the project is to harness the power of theatre to improve the reading habits of children.

The Philosophy:

We all know that children love to perform. When I was a Resource Person with the NIE (Newspaper In Education) programme of the Times of India, Pune, my Theatre Workshops were the most popular because they got the children to actually perform headlines and stories from the newspaper.

Project Aristotle works with the children, taking advantage of their love of performing to get them to read.

The Means:

Project Aristotle begins with the creation of a play script based on a classic. The children then perform the play, thus automatically becoming involved in the story and learning more about classical literature.

The Advantages:

Children become interested in Classical Literature. When a child is exposed to even abridged versions of a book, she is more likely to pick up the original version later in life.

Children begin to form a personal library of great literature.

Project Aristotle is not an IMPOSED exhortation to read. Instead, it works with the child’s natural desire to perform to put it into “Reading mode.” Reading is merely a step in the performance process.

Have fun with Project Aristotle.

Deepak