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Novelty on stage
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The plays, staged at the Soorya Theatre Festival, were applauded both by the connoisseur and the layman.
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The Soorya Theatre Festival, part of Soorya's year-long silver jubilee celebrations, started off with a bang. Kavalam Narayana Panicker's `Theyyatheyyam', the inaugural play, was staged by the Thiruvananthapuram-based group, Sopanam. The play tells the story of Ravunni, who dons the `theyyam' of `parangichamundi'. He rescues Kannippoovu from the clutches of the landlord, Mekkamthala, by killing him. Ravunni elopes with the girl. But when he returns to his village to do the theyyam, he is killed and becomes a `theyyatheyyam'. The whole play has a rhythm and is interspersed with a liberal dose of `naadanpattu'. The play functions at different levels. Kavalam has written and directed the play. He has also composed the music.
Here are some of the highlights of the festival.
Short plays directed by Jayaprakash Kuloor and performed by the Manam Natakavedi were staged before each main play. One of them, `Korangan', was a dramatic representation of the old story of the monkey and the crocodile.The 15-minute play was a treat for the theatre buff. The main play, which followed, titled `Kamala', was a Malayalam translation of Vijay Tendulkar's Marathi play.
The story is about an `adivasi' woman, Kamala, who was bought by a journalist from a `slave market'.
The play was staged by the Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, and was directed by C. S. Deepan.
`Medea', a Malayalam adaptation of the Greek play written by the great Greek dramatist, Euripedes, is a perfect blend of Indian and Greek theatre.
This play, directed by Chandrahasan, was presented by Lokadharmi, Kochi.
The next day saw `Uyirthudi' by Neruvambram Nataka Vedi of Kannur. The drama, an adaptation of the novel, `Chommanaduddi', by Dr. Sivarama Karanth, was directed by Pramod Payyannur.
It boldly portrays the woes of the agrarian community and the hardships they face.
The play was dedicated to those farmers who found suicide to be the only solution for their hardships.
`Larva', by APTIST, directed by Shibu S. Kottaram, is a subtle adaptation of Shakespeare's `Macbeth'. In the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are viewed in a different light -- as epitomes of the warring class.
All the characters in `Macbeth' are recreated here without changing the name or characterisation.
Then there was the short play, `Chorana Koora', staged by Perumthattakam, Kannur. The play was directed by Manjulan and scripted by Jayaprakash Kuloor. The other plays of the festival were `Saketham' by Abhilash Pillai (performed by School of Drama, Thrichur), `Kuchelagaatha' by Vayala Vasudevan Pillai (staged by Rangachetana) and `Mahabharatham' by Sudhakaran (staged by Suhruth Nataka Vedi).
AMBIKA VARMA
Photo: A.J. Jojy
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