His experience in imparting theatre training to students of Chennai colleges, his extensive tour of various city-based colleges in parts of the country and his current association with the Central University of Tamil Nadu in Tiruvarur have given him the right exposure to ascertain capabilities of students from different walks of life.
However, he finds a common thread from his experiences with youngsters: when it comes to theatre and particularly staging English dramas, the rural-urban divide vanishes; “In fact, rural students play a more active role than the city-based students,” says P. Rajani , guest faculty in the University's School of Social Sciences and Humanities, in a chat with , M. Balaganessin .
As a little boy, Rajani was exposed to a few dramas for weeks together in the 1950s, when there was no entertainment. He was influenced by the theatre art and understood its nuances even during his boyhood days. “Theatre has been a passion and pleasure for me even now,” he says in a firm voice.
It was no surprise that after joining the Madras Christian College as a faculty member in the Department of English, he worked on his pet project -dramatising sequences and staging plays.
It was the drama ‘A street car named desire' by Tenneesee William that was staged in 1982 and adjudged the ‘drama of the year' at the college that boosted him. “There was no looking back since then,” he says proudly. With the theme of the play revolving around the social issues faced by women, it attracted women students to a large extent.
“The overwhelming response to the drama prompted me to stage more women-oriented dramas for the next decade,” he says. The male bastion of the drama world came to an end .
Innovation has been key to his success in his voyage of introducing the college students to the art of theatre. “Whenever any department organises a seminar of workshop, I staged a drama with the theme relevant to the topic of the seminar,” he divulges the secret of his elevation.
He remembers how students, divided into ten different groups, underwent rehearsal to stage their plays for their forthcoming seminar or workshop or some cultural event. “My theatre has been a centre for shaping youth,” he says.
His plays for seminar and workshop-based topics made him popular in other colleges in the state and outside. “We camped at several colleges and staged plays at Coimbatore, Guntur, Vellore, Cannanore, Telechery. At the end of the paper presentation, we staged the drama, projecting the fact that dramas can send more messages than theoretical papers,” he says.
He utilised his three-decade long experience in theatre at the Madras Christian College at his next assignment in Madras University by starting an elective course in theatre arts. He acknowledges the support he got from C.T. Indra, the then head of department of English who extended support to him by coordinating with various departments, agencies and even sponsors.
The theatre expert has been maintaining the same tempo at the Central University of Tamil Nadu at Tiruvarur. The drama festival which he organised for two days last year raised eyebrows. He lists out the talent of students of various colleges. “Rural urban divide is not to be seen when it comes to theatre,” he asserts.
He visits each and every college to meet the head of the department of English and explaining the potential of the present-day youth in staging plays and scripting dialogues. A couple of his students Anil Kirupalani and Sujatha had acted in films while V. Priya had even assisted in directing a film.
He says that the Central University has been extending support to student community and nurturing their talents. He is determined to utilise the opportunity to bring the best talents among young students. Presently, he has been imparting training to 30 students of the University on theatre-related skills. “The skills range from reading a text properly, miming a popular sequence, so on and so forth,” he concludes.
