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The show must go on

Festival of plays that gives hope for revival of theatre in the city, writes T.SARAVANAN

CAPTIVATING Riveting performance PHOTO: S. JAMES

Sans any obvious extravagance in sets and costumes, the National Theatre Festival at Gandhi Museum last week stunned the audience with some impressive performances.

The weeklong festival organised by the Centre for Experiencing Socio Cultural Interaction in collaboration with the Gandhi Museum attracted people in drones. And quite justifiably, the crowd was treated to a cream of choicest plays from across the country.

From `Aravaan', directed by Prasad and written by S. Ramakrishnan, which kickstarted the show to `Man and beast' written and directed by Soumyabrata Choudhry, each play overwhelmed the spectators through their powerful portrayal.

Bold attempt

The play `Porukki' of Nigazh, Madurai, carried a strong message dealing with subaltern issues of oppressed sections. Some scenes boldly presented the bare truths about the oppressed class.

The story unfolds through a central character highlighting the sufferings of the barber community. Fed up with the shoddy treatment meted out to him and the community, he runs away from the village and joins a gang of robbers to eke out a living. In a case of mistaken identity and at the least expected moment, he slips into a magistrate chamber. Wearing the garb of a magistrate, he discharges duties of a judge. Soon he proves to be a saner person than the original magistrate, as he is able to deliver realistic judgements and earns the respect of litigants.

The director, M. Shanmugaraja, attempts to present multiple issues at one go. The scenes where the protagonist explains the plight of the community and the hardship its members undergo in the village. In the court scenes, the director commendably depicts how the laws, otherwise intended to help the common man, have moved away from their purpose and are beyond the reach of the layman.

He also effectively asserts how those belonging to the lower strata of society understand the harsh realities of life better. The violent portrayal of treatment meted out to oppressed class pricks the conscience of the spectators.

"It was purposely done as we had to portray the scenes boldly conveying a strong message. The play has traces of theatre of cruelty techniques," says Mr. Shanmugaraja.

The play has been selected for the International Theatre Festival (only entry from Tamil Nadu), organised by the National School of Drama in New Delhi. It will be staged on January 14.

Nigazh has also been invited to stage the same play at the satellite theatre festival of the Regional Resource Centre of National School Drama at Bangalore on January 10.

Brilliant portrayal

Pralayan's `Poun Kunju', takes a dig at modern education system, which devises a uniform syllabus and decides what the student has to learn without bothering about their aptitude. The director deplores the present state of affairs.

The school brands the protagonist "unfit" as he is unable to reproduce in the examination what the teacher taught him in the classroom. At the end, when the central character Poun Kunju proves the fault of the modern education system for failing to teach the necessities of life, he emerges as the voice of the public and every spectator is filled with relief.

Effectively using the techniques of the Third theatre, the play captivated the audience by some appealing individual performances. The play was enacted not on the stage but on the ground encircled by audience. The characters walked out from the audience, singing and dancing and even playing music. Some characters also played a dual role proving that content and effective handling of the subject are more important. M. Arumugan, who played the role of the teacher, brilliantly combined the techniques of `theru koothu' and third theatre to present a comprehensive performance. "Though I have written plays for stage, dramas like these remain close to my heart as it breaks the monotony of stage performance. Such plays revolve around the social psychology. Since the actors also contributed to the script, they were aware of their responsibility and limitations. That is why, it came out well," says Mr. Pralayan of Chennai Kalai Kuzhu.

Other plays

Other plays deserving a mention include `Man and beast' directed by Soumyabrata Choudhury. The Jawaharlal Nehru University professor of arts and aesthetics was able to put up a convincing solo performance. Based on Antonin Artaud writings — the founder of theatre of cruelty — the play talks about the last two years in the life of Artaud.

The `Speaking of Siva' directed by Santanu Bhose focussed on domestic, physical and the political violence existing in the society. The puppet show of Brazil directed by Irani Cippiciani, `Seethaimark Seeyakaithool' of Koothu-p-pattarai, directed by V. Balakrishnan, `Nadukoothan' by V. Arumugam and `Aravaan' by Prasad, all rolled out a veritable feast for the city's theatre buffs rekindling the spirits of a revival of theatre movement in Temple City.

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