The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : A picture of dismal ground realities

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Monday, Nov 10, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

A picture of dismal ground realities

D. Kartikeyan

Drama depicts everyday struggle of farmers

— Photo: G. Moorthy

SAD COMMENTARY: A scene from the drama on life of farmers, staged in Madurai on Sunday.

MADURAI: Members of Environmental Theatre Group, Manalmagudi staged a drama, “Kutram patriya Udal” (Body on Crime), at Madura College Higher Secondary School here on Saturday.

The ideological basis of the drama was to depict the farmer’s connection to the land, environment and to capture the essence of his everyday struggle, said director S. Muruga Bhoopathi.

The two-hour long drama was enacted by more than a dozen artistes.

It was a perfect rhythm of body movements, gestures and the pain that a peasant’s body undergoes in his efforts to cultivate the agricultural produce.

Near ground level

The most striking feature about the performance was that the bodies involved in the play were all performing at a level close to the ground to portray the attachment that a tiller has with the land.

Starting with the recreation of a ballad on ‘Nallathangal,’ the drama tried to connect it to the farmers’ struggle. The drama captured the transitions that take place both in technology and in lives of farmers across the nation.

Starting from the use of wells for irrigation to genetically modified crops and the resultant effects of globalisation such as suicides in Andhra Pradesh and Vidarbha region.

The drama ended with a message on the need to organise and protest against damage done to agriculture and environment in the guise of development. The drama was organised by Madura College Administration Council, Kadavu (a literary forum), and Yadharthaa, a film appreciation club.

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