Among the Tamil theatre aficionados going the extra mile to keep their fans in good spirits is Dharini Komal, daughter of the illustrious Komal Swaminathan. Having redeemed her father’s legacy — she revived Stage Friends and called it Komal Theatre — she reprised his plays and also adapted short stories to the stage.
Dharini had plans to celebrate World Theatre Day with a bouquet of plays but the Lockdown came as a dampener. Dharini, however, has converted it into an opportunity by uploading short plays. Stories written by legendary writers are being dramatised and presented as ‘Quarantine Series.’ Two of them are already available. ‘Enna seyyattum sollungo’ is a monologue. Jayakanthan's story gets a visual lift as Lavanya Venugopal talks about her life. A child bride she blossomed into the traditional spouse of a learned man, of whom she is proud. Now, she is in a dilemma and wants viewer’s advice. The success of this venture depends solely on the actor’s articulation and expressions and Lavanya doesn’t disappoint.
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‘Manidha Uravugal’ of Komal Swaminathan is more emotional and involves the parents of a son settled abroad. Written nearly 20 years ago, the premise is a bit outdated but the accent here is on human relationships and thus has a resonance.
How does Dharini manage to create these plays in this time of social distancing? “I select stories with minimum characters. I work on the script giving it a dramatic structure,” explains Dharini.
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The lines are numbered and sent to the artistes with directions. After shooting the sequences on their mobile phones, the actors send them to Dharini, who in turn forwards them to her editor, with the sequences numbered. Music provided by the composer is mixed and the play is ready for public viewing.
“One play is released on YouTube every Friday,” informs Dharini adding that on the anvil are Pudumaipithan and Thi. Janakiraman. Sujatha is the author for Friday, May 1.