The pandemic has brought everything to a standstill on the art front, including theatre. Tamil drama troupes, which were planning a celebration on March 27, World Theatre Day, were a disappointed lot, when the lockdown dashed all their dreams. Amidst all this, T.V. Varadharajen of United Visuals is thanking his stars for making the troupe’s tour of Australia a success. What is more they were able to land in Chennai and reach their respective homes after The troupe toured three cities of Australia presenting Sri Thyagarajar and a few of his social plays.
It all started in September last year when the troupe wanted to celebrate its silver jubilee in Chennai. A call from Varadharajen’s friend, Srirama in Adelaide set the ball rolling. He invited United Visuals to visit Adelaide in March 2020 to stage the troupe’s super hit play, 'Sri Thyagarajar.’ Another friend in Sydney called with the same request. “It was a surprising coincidence, which we could not ignore,” says Varadharajen. Describing the sequence, he says that he came to know through a friend, Ramanath, that Sridhar Chari of InConcert Music, another music-based cultural organisation in Melbourne wanted a show there.
The tour plan was finalised and shows were firmed up for February 22, 2020 at Adelaide, March 1 at Sydney and March 7 at Melbourne. The Adelaide Tamil Sangam requested for any social play, on March 23.
Unchavriti
Did they all travel to Australia?
“Our team comprised seven artistes, including a female actor Lakshmi, and three on the technical side — sets and lights, make-up and music. Besides we roped in artistes from the local troupes — Sydney Natakapriya and Melbourne Talkies. In the absence of an outfit in Adelaide, actors were chosen after an audition. The script and videos of the scenes were passed to them so that they could be ready when we landed,” says TVV. In Adelaide, apart from Thyagarajar, the troupe was staging ‘Plastic Kadavul.’
‘Sri Thyagarajar’ was staged to a packed house of mixed audience — Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and few Malayalam people too. Local artistes extended a wonderful performance. Member of the Legislative Council and Assistant Minister to Premier of South Australia, Ms. Jing Lee, was the chief guest at the silver jubilee event of Shruthi, a cultural organisation in Aelaide. “She witnessed our play, paid a rich tribute to our team. She said that she could appreciate the emotional performances of the artistes although she did not understand the language,” recalls Varadharajen.
At MCG
Cooler climate with rain greeted the troupe in Melbourne and the tour had reached the final leg. The enthusiastic Melbourne Talkies team of Maniskanthan, impressed with their performance on March 7, in the 146th show of Thyagarajar. Varadharajen has a special word of praise for Sridhar Chari, who had organised the trip.
It was with a heavy heart that the team left Australia, blissfully unaware of the pandemic that was going to explode on a global scale. “We landed in India on March 9. From March 12, quarantine restrictions came into force in Australia. If our departure had been a week later, we would have been stranded there. There was no issue of cough or fever in our team but we went into self-quarantine after reaching home. I realised the magnitude of the crisis when friends in India underlined how lucky we were to complete the circuit abroad and return unscathed,” says Varadharajen. He, however, makes an amendment. “It was not just luck, which made this possible. It was the grace of Tyagarajaswamy, who travelled with us virtually as an invisible passenger, which protected us and brought us home safe,” he says.
