Kerala - Thrissur   

‘Conservative viewers bane of Malayalam theatre’

Civic Chandran

Thrissur: Writer Civic Chandran has lamented the reported absence of interaction between mainstream and amateur theatre groups in Malayalam.

He was addressing a seminar on ‘Malayalam theatre today’ at the Second International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK-2009) on Saturday.

“In almost all media across the world, the avant garde influences the mainstream segment. In Malayalam theatre, it rarely happens.”

He observed that conservative viewers were the bane of Malayalam theatre. “They are used to styles and themes of the past and are reluctant to accept new ideas. They are like the pseudo-intellectuals who crowd film festivals. They queue up to watch Latin American films, but will not buy tickets of alternative films in Malayalam and promote them.”

He said it was ironical that Malayalam plays of yesteryear were being revived.

“I wonder if these plays, including ‘Ithu Bhoomiyanu’ and ‘Kootukrishi’, have any relevance in modern times.”

He said that contemporary theatre should afford spaces to the marginalised, sexual minority and women.

Anantha Krishnan of the University of Hyderabad urged the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi to hold at venues outside Kerala annual festivals of contemporary Malayalam plays. This would help project at the national level Malayalam productions. The Akademi should also take the initiative to document modern Malayalam plays, he said.

Akademi chairman-in-charge K.M. Raghavan Nambiar also spoke.

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