Kerala - Thrissur   

Many voices, one actor

— Photo: K. K. Najeeb

CREATIVE SPIRIT: Surendran Perinchery with his audio production, ‘Socrates’.

Thrissur: Amateur theatre actor Surendran Perinchery has had his dream realised with the release of an audio CD containing the Malayalam play, ‘Socrates’.

In the three-hour CD, Mr. Surendran has created an audio version of P. J. Antony’s celebrated play.

The uniqueness of the production lies in the fact that Mr. Surendran himself has lent voice for all seven characters in the play.

“I have brought in variation for the voice of each character. The play was recorded over two days. My friends tell me the attempt is worth notice,” he says.

The play depicts Socrates’ quest for truth and the questions he posed.

Plays on the life of Socrates, one of the founders of Western philosophy, are not new.

In fact, details of his life are known from the plays of Aristophanes as much as they do from the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon.

“P. J. Antony’s play is known for its literary merit and dramatic value. It has rarely been performed after his death,” Mr. Perinchery says.

A native of Perinchery, near Thrissur city, Mr. Perinchery has worked in the field of amateur theatre for the past 50 years.

He is a graded actor with All India Radio and has acted in countless radio plays since 1974.

He remembers having been auditioned by veteran writer and broadcaster T. N. Gopinathan Nair.

The 69-year-old has tried his hand at different jobs.

He was a khadi worker, a member of the Avinissery Khadi and Village Industries Association, a contractor and an LIC agent.

He also worked in the Gulf for a while. He is currently a proof-reader in a Malayalam newspaper.

“Even as I have jumped from one job to another, I remained steady in one vocation: theatre. The actor in me has kept me going,” he says.

Buoyed by the success of ‘Socrates’, he plans to bring out more audio plays.

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