2022 sci-fi adventure novel by British author Ross Welford, the kid who came from spaceExplores complex but essential themes of exclusion and coexistence through the eyes of children. Theater director Vishnu Prasad was drawn to the gentle and subtle treatment of these ideas while searching for a text for a summer theater workshop organized by Navaranga, a Palakkad-based children’s theater group, in May 2025.

As rehearsals progressed, the team recognized the visual possibilities of the story and decided to stage it on a larger scale. Known as Kerala’s first sci-fi adventure drama, the kid who came from space A departure from traditional children’s theatre.

“We wanted to make it appealing to today’s generation by using the visual language we recognize from comics and superhero movies,” says Vishnu. “Our aim was to create a production that would appeal to kids who are used to creating smaller content.”

Produced by filmmaker Gokulam Gopalan, the play will be staged at the regional theater in Thrissur on June 27 and 28. This production is Gopalan’s debut in theater after producing over 30 films. L2: MPurana and upcoming Kathanar – Wild Magician.

With the cast of Gokulam Gopalan the kid who came from space
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Vishnu says, “We approached him because we needed a producer who could help understand the scale of the project. He agreed after watching a live performance in Palakkad.”

“There are very few science-fiction plays in the history of Kerala children’s theatre, leave alone science-fiction adventures,” says Vishnu, who has co-written the production with Nayana RM. “The play has a cinematic visual grammar without compromising its dramatic core.” The production will also use video projected onto custom-designed screens.

The Tamil-Malayalam bilingual drama is set in a village in Palakkad on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Malu has been abducted by aliens from a planet called Enthala for display in a human zoo. While the rest of the village believes that she is dead, her twin brother Chandu is convinced that she is alive.

Her suspicions are confirmed when she encounters a young alien Hellion named Enthalla, who lives on a planet where no one experiences emotions. However, unlike others, Hellion can feel. Moved by Chandu’s grief, he takes Chandu, his friend Iggy and Iggy’s pet hen, Suzy, to Anthala to save Malu. What happens to this unlikely group, and whether the twins return to Earth, forms the crux of the drama.

A scene from the drama Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

An alumnus of the National School of Drama, Bengaluru, Vishnu says this production ultimately explores the idea of ​​love.

“Do people have to be related by blood or be of the same species to love each other? We ask this question through the friendship between humans and an alien.”

in hellyann the kid who came from space
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The 27-member cast, aged between six and 26, includes eight artistes from the Erode Nadaga Kottagai troupe from Tamil Nadu.

One of the twins speaks Malayalam on stage and the other Tamil. “We wanted to be inclusive and also show that the differences between people on both sides of the state line are minor.”

At its core, the play is a plea for co-existence.

“If an alien and a child can care for each other so deeply despite having nothing in common, why can’t we humans live together in peace?” Vishnu says. “If the audience walks away with that question, that would be a huge win for us.”

The Kid Who Came from Space will be staged on June 27 and 28 at 7 pm at Regional Theatre: Thrissur. Passes are available from ₹299 on BookMyShow.com