Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
Theatre of a different kind
|
"Thiraikadalodi (Akam)?", a choreo-play to be staged on August 1 and 2, at the Museum Theatre, is multilingual and multilayered.
|
THEATRE LOVERS in the city can look forward to an intense and exciting experience when Paatini in association with the Arangham Trust presents ``Thiraikadalodi (Akam)?'', a choreo-play in English and Tamil on August 1 and 2. The play will be staged at the Museum Theatre, Egmore, on both days at 7.15 pm.
The multidisciplinary work draws on dance, music, video-clippings, and theatre, and is multilingual (Tamil and English) and multi-layered.
The play, directed by Prasanna Ramaswamy, brings together artistes such as actor-director-academic Mu. Ramaswamy, Madras Players' Bhagirathi Narayanan and P.C.Ramakrishna, danseuse and cultural activist Anita Ratnam, painter M.Natesh, Harikatha exponent and actress Revathy Sankkaran, Palani and Chandra of Koothu-p-Pattarai, dancers Akila, Srikanth, Aarti amd actress Nikhila.
The play about war and violence, women and exile, also explores issues such as displacement, identity and memories. "Akam" (which means `a woman's inner world') is performed by a group of 14 actors and dancers. Director Prasanna Ramaswamy says, ``I'm constantly trying to understand and interpret my tradition from my position of modernity. I look constantly at the simultaneity of space and time.
"Exile, war and displacement have affected us all intensely at various levels from the last century. Not just physical exile but inner exile too. ``I work on a discourse, not a narrative'', she adds. ``I'm weaving the discourse from various sources, not just texts but also sounds. Sounds are used to accentuate certain emotions. The centrality of women stays but this is not a women-centred discourse. It is completely different from my earlier works and the passages from the texts are not the same as before. I consider the audience intelligent and sensitive. So I don't think in terms of the audience understanding a story. The open form and the absence of clear dialogue structure is enticing and puzzling, and one can explore an array of possibilities for interpretation."
Producer Anita Ratnam of Arangham Trust says, ``I don't look at this as a Tamil play. I look at it as a reflection of our times. The simplistic, linear narration does not exist here; it is a multi-layered work. The audience has to be prepared to receive for Prasanna is not an entertainer. Those who see her work have to pay attention; nobody is spoonfed.''
``At Arangham, we give space for people who work in a different way. Arangham has helped to make this work possible. For six months, it was in the preparation stage. We have arranged for rehearsal space and financed the sets.
``The work hinges on four narrators. I'm not one of them. I'm the movement component of Bhagirathi's thoughts. I enact what she is saying. The movement dances out the emotions and the intensity of words is very important in this play. We have already received invitations from other cities but we are not ready to consider it till we are through with it here.''
While parts of the production have been written by Prasanna, other parts have been extracted from various sources such as passages from Prof. Ramanujam's "Veriyattam", Greek play "Antigone", Aravind Appadurai's poem, "Pulam Peyarndha Un", Cheran's poem "Kuzhandaikal" and two poems by Wislava Simborska.
Passes will be available for Rs. 25. There are special discount passes for students at Rs. 15 while block passes (five or more) for students are available at Rs. 10. For more details, contact Arangham Trust 8524917/98410 45235.
KAUSALYA SANTHANAM
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
|
