Nearly 150 local people, aged between eight and 80 years, will drum up a piece of artistic theatre at Valayanchirangara on the outskirts of Perumbavoor on December 22 and 23. And, for the cause of the place!
By sons of soil
An open-air play, Mannu (Soil), that they first staged alongside a large serpentine pond from which the place draws its name, will be performed again in what is called a people’s artistic theatre initiative by the veterans’ group, Gurusangamam - Nanma Gruham, of the V.N. Kesava Pillai Memorial Library in the neighbourhood.
The pond too forms a key character in the play, with the artistic legacy of the place, its ancient art forms and erstwhile agricultural life becoming an integral part of the performance, said Benoy Peter, executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development and a resident of the locality.
“The purpose is to sensitise people to the wetland ecosystem of the place that is under threat. To show to what extent everything has changed for bad, as people’s priorities changed,” he added
Written and directed by Eldhose Yohannan, the play is an outcome of the collective effort of the people of Valayanchirangara. Muralee Thummarukudy, chief of disaster mitigation and operations at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), will be the chief guest on December 23.
C.N. Sreekantan Nair
Meanwhile, Tuesday will witness a rare staging of the famed Lankalakshmi by Federal Arts and Cultural Forum, a collective of Federal Bank officials. Directed by former bank official and popular theatre activist Varghese Koyikkara, the play has him don the lead role of Ravana as well. Staged in connection with the death anniversary of the iconic playwright, the play is a journey through the emotional turbulence of Ravana, fated to walk into his inevitable misfortune. The performance, organised by Bank Employees Arts Movement, Ernakulam, is at TDM Hall, at 6.30 p.m.
Natakakkalari
On Sunday (December 17), auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan inaugurated the golden jubilee of Kerala’s first theatre training venture launched by M. Govindan, C.N. Sreekantan Nair, M.V. Devan, K.S. Narayana Pillai, K. Ayyappa Paniker and G. Sankara Pillai in 1967. The inaugural coincided with the death anniversary of CN and the collective plans to hold similar programmes and seminars on theatre on the birth / death anniversaries of its founding members, said John T. Vekkan, the force behind the collective over the last few decades.
While the kalari had a permanent presence in Ernakulam earlier, its repertory, the Vaikom Thirunal Nataka Vedi, currently functions from Vaikom. “We have been able to retain it as an independent theatre training and performance collective. Back in the 1980s, with hardly any publication willing to publish literary plays, we took up the task and brought out several path-breaking plays,” he said. “The effort is to keep the spirit of independent theatre alive,” he added.
Partners sought
The P.J. Antony Memorial Foundation is on the lookout for partners for the fourth edition of its annual street theatre fest, Theruvarangu, which will get under way in February, 2018. Buoyed by the success of the venture, the foundation intends to have the performances organised across multiple venues spread over the district, as in the previous editions. “We would like to partner with NGOs, libraries, and art and cultural organisations, especially in rural areas, to find local venues for the festival. It will be an opportunity for them to mobilise neighbourhood cultural communes. Details can be had at 9446535006 or 8281490845,” foundation officials said.
