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Show must go on, without ‘Sir’

VENJARAMOOD: The demise of Kochunarayana Pillai, the founder president of Rangaprabhath, a 35-year-old theatre dedicated to children, on Monday is an irreparable loss for the children who literally grew up with him.

For many like M.S. Biju, a 28-year-old graduate, Kochunarayana Pillai was more than just an artiste and teacher. “Sir was a father figure to me. I used to discuss my problems with him,” said Mr. Biju who lost his father at the age of four to cancer.

“Ever since I was brought to the theatre at the age of six I have spent more time here than at home. Rangaprabhath today is a part of my life,” he said. It was Biju who admitted Mr. Pillai to a hospital after he complained of chest pain during a programme at Navayikkulam, four days ago.

“Sir taught me the basics of acting,” recalled Mr. Biju who has donned the grease paint in some of the popular plays of the theatre including ‘Ponnumkudam.’ The stories of most plays are based on Panchathanthra tales.

Since the theatre group conducted periodic tours to other States children could make friends all over the country, recalled Mr. Biju who now focuses mostly on backstage operations such as costumes, make-up and lighting arrangements.

The group functions in a quaint double-storied building constructed in traditional architectural style.

Every evening children from the neighbourhood assemble at the theatre’s miniature brick-laid amphitheatre. They sing, dance, act and amuse themselves without inhibitions.According to N. Radhakrishnan, chairman, Indian Council of Gandhian Studies, New Delhi, and a patron of Rangaprabhath, Mr. Pillai had recently set up a book-binding unit on the premises to inculcate self-sufficiency in children.

The unit, he believed, would help children, around 40 of them from the locality, to engage in constructive activities in addition to drama and folk art.

Rangaprabhath is the realisation of the dream of a team of theatre personalities, teachers and writers who felt that appropriate steps should be taken to involve children in educational and recreational activities to enhance their skills and confidence. The experiment was launched under the guidance of late G. Sankara Pillai, the doyen of Malayalam theatre in 1970.

The theatre as part of its extension programme also undertakes State-wide awareness creation campaigns involving children, teachers and theatre artistes.

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