“Girish Karnad’s works are rarely performed in Chennai,” says V. Balakrishnan, director, Theater Nisha, “Although, I know for a fact, that students in school and college love his work, and he is staged often in the North.” This, perhaps, is why he decided to direct the author’s monologue — Flowers — when actor T.M. Karthik expressed interest in the script.
The play, published in 2005, is about a devout priest who falls in love with a courtesan, Chandravati. Appreciative of the way he decorates the linga of the sanctum, she entices him to decorate her sensuous body in the same way. He gives in to his desires, and visits her at dusk everyday, to adorn her with the same flowers that decorate the lord at dawn. However, fate turns when the Chieftain finds a strand of hair in the prasada, and it triggers a series of events, which changes the dharma and karma of the priest.
While he is torn between his love for his god and his love for Chandravati, he also feels a sense of duty to the king and to his legally-wedded wife, which only complicates matters. The priest, in his monologue, tells the story of his life after matters have come to a head. “The folk legend, from which Karnad has taken the play, can be found even in Shiva temples around Chennai, where we have stories of a strand of hair that has angered the king,” says Balakrishnan. “The main quintessence is that God doesn’t care about our conscience and morality. The priest is convinced he’s committed a sexual infringement, but God comes to his salvation, and saves him from the wrath of the chieftain.”
The play, which has been perfected over a month, will be performed for the first time in Chennai this weekend. The monologue stars actor T.M. Karthik, with accompanying live vocals (Srivaralakshmi Maya) and percussion (Vishwa Bharath). “Since I usually work with Theater Nisha actors who I’ve trained, I thought while working with a veteran actor like Karthik, who collaborates with several theatre groups and also freelances as an actor, we might take time to arrive at a point where both of us understand each other artistically. But, it all worked out rather effortlessly,” says Balakrishnan.
Flowers will be staged at Spaces, Besant Nagar on July 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. Entry free.
