Plays at theatre fete feature burning issues of the time

Festival culmination of weeks of district-level competitions

Contemporary political and social issues ranging from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) to the gruesome rape and murder of two sisters in Walayar became the subject of plays from across the State on the first day of the youth theatre festival organised by the State Youth Welfare Board at the Tagore Theatre here on Friday.

Plays representing all the 14 districts are being staged at the festival, aimed at highlighting the works of young theatre practitioners. The festival here is the culmination of weeks of district-level competitions, in which winners were chosen to represent the district at the State level.

On the first day, nine plays were staged, each of them varied in their content and form.

Roundana , presented by Vijayeswari Arts from Kollam, was on the oppression of the common people by those in power.

Pets of Anarchy , presented by Apt Performance and Research Centre from Thiruvananthapuram, with its story woven around a situation wherein the government bans pets except those of one colour, talked about contemporary political issues.

Mythology as medium

Abhisarika , a play presented by the students of the Central University of Kerala (CUK) in Kasaragod, talked about the social situation at the India-Pakistan border during partition. Airavathi presented by Idam, Kottayam, used a mythological story to talk about issues faced by the transgender community.

The Mahima Ooru Nadakakoottam from Pathanamthitta presented

Thenvarikka on issues surrounding global warming. The other plays staged on the first day were

Meeshappulimala by Nadaka gramam, Kozhikode;

Cantonians by Little Earth School of Theatre, Malappuram;

Rekhakal by Drama Dreams, Palakkad, and

Colonel by Neyyathil from Alappuzha.