Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Star craze affecting theatre, says director

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The craze for star value is adversely impacting the stage performance of theatre artistes, noted Kashmiri director Balvant Thakur said here on Friday.

He was participating in a face-to-face organised in connection with the ongoing National Theatre Festival.

“Only an artiste steeped in cultural traditions can come up with outstanding performance on stage. The capacity to reach out to the ordinary people through simple language and expression are what make a play appealing to the audience,” said Mr. Thakur.

“My plays are an attempt to transcend the disturbed atmosphere in Jammu and bring the traditions, culture, music and arts of the State in to the national mainstream. I have tried to present contemporary issues in such a way that they influence social conscience. For this, I have relied on a mixture of traditional folklore and myth,” he added.

Noted theatre personality Vayala Vasudevan Pillai was the moderator. Chairman of the Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Kavalam Narayana Panicker, T.M. Abraham and delegates attending the theatre festival participated in the interaction.

The fourth day of the festival on Saturday will feature the staging of the Punjabi play ‘Khuli Hava ki Thalash Me’ directed by G.S. Chani and ‘Druthamaranam’ by Sankar Venkateswaran.

The Punjabi play deals with the conflict between development needs and concern for the environment. It highlights the unholy nexus between politicians and industrial leaders. The problems posed by synthetic materials like plastic and polythene also figure in the play.

Druthamaranam is a radical experimentation of theatre art. It opens up a new realm between words and action on stage. The artiste utters something only in one out of 51 scenes.

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