Ms. Meena

July 16, 2010 04:41 pm | Updated November 28, 2021 09:17 pm IST

A scene form 'Ms Meena'.

A scene form 'Ms Meena'.

August 7 - Ms. Meena, formerly Asha, returns to her native village Pichampuram after two decades to make her final film. She is now an iconic film star. In the intervening years, Pichampuram has descended into a state of dire poverty. With news of Ms. Meena’s arrival, there is a new burst of energy and hope in the village, and she is hailed as their saviour, while Ravi, her former lover, now a prominent shopkeeper, is pushed to appeal to her on the village’s behalf. After all, the villagers reason, Ms. Meena must still harbour some ‘feelings’ for Ravi, mustn’t she?

Ms. Meena arrives in state and pronounces her verdict. She will make the entire village prosperous beyond their wildest dreams. In return, she demands a terrible price.

This play has been made possible with the support of the Goethe-Institut and Pro Helvetia — The Swiss Arts Council.

Perch is an active theatre collective based in Chennai. Its first project was a three-week-long festival in January 2008 called ‘Under the Mangosteen Tree’, to commemorate the centenary year of the Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. Since then, the two plays that were part of the festival, ‘Moonshine and Skytoffee’ and ‘Sangathi Arinhya!’ (Have you heard!), have travelled widely. In early 2010, Perch staged ‘Ki Ra Kozhambu’, a story-telling performance based on the folktales of Tamil writer, Ki. Rajanarayanan.

Ms. Meena

Perch (Chennai)

Venue: Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall

Time: 7.15 p.m.

Directed by: Rajiv Krishnan

Inspired by 'The Visit' by Friedrich Durrenmatt

Language: English and a smattering of other Indian languages

Duration: 100 minutes

Rajiv Krishnan says: Our focus has been on keeping the play compact, visually interesting, entertaining and accessible to the audience.

Cast

Ms. Meena: Asha Karuna Amarnath

Ravi: Anish Victor

MLA Thambidorai: Bittu Sachin Gurjale

Priest/Somu: Anand Sami

School teacher/Reel Radhika/Mohan Raj: Malavika P.C.

Constable/Thyagu Veeresh M.P.M.

S. Omanakutty/Film Director: Anushka Meenakshi

Kalyani/Madhavi: Sunitha

Michael Chengappa/Madan: Iswar Srikumar

Credits

Script: Rashmi Ruth Devadasan

Costumes: Kaveri Lalchand

Props/Set: Kalpana Balaji & John V. Mathew

Lighting: John V. Mathew, Kalpana Balaji, M. Natesh & Anish Victor

Music/Sound: Cast

Choreography: Aparna Gopinath

Stage Manager: Anjana Raghavan

Photography: Tarun Saldanha

Backstage: Team Perch

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