Plays throw up probing questions

Contemporary issues, from caste to authoritarianism, brought on stage

Rich in symbolism with visually striking tableaux and scenes, the plays staged at the drama competition in the higher secondary school (HSS) category at the State School Arts Festival had specific messages to convey, invariably social and political in content.

A host of plays staged at the venue could be grouped together in terms of their motif. They sent across the message that theatre is not just for entertainment but is a way of resistance to social and political ills in society. The play Dheerabhai of the GHSS, Chalissery, Palakkad, for example, captured caste, gender and class issues in contemporary India. “The play belongs to genre of political theatre,” said its director and film director M.G. Sasi. Based on K.G. Sankara Pillai’s poem Sarvayya, it looks at these issues from a woman’s perspective.

Manhu (snow) staged by students of Chattanchal HSS, Kasaragod, was more direct in its theme. Based on writer U.P. Jayaraj’s short story of that name on Emergency period, the play highlights worries over authoritarian elements in contemporary politics. In the play, a group of employees in a company are locked up in the name of discipline.

The play

Oridathoridath performed by students of Vivekodayam Boys HSS, Thrissur, also narrates the contemporary issues as a struggle between good and evil, represented on stage as birds and vultures respectively.

Students of Samoodiri HSS, Kozhikode, enacted an emotionally poignant play on the life of a feudal chieftain (Thampuran) who realises that life is authentic when he is one with nature. The play, Nagnanaya Thampuran , is based on writer M. Mukundan’s story of that name.

Back-to-nature theme also recurred in the play

Chali (mud) by Karunagapally John F. Kennedy. The

New Bombay Tailor by students of SNM Moothakunnam, Ernakulam, told the touching tale of a tailor who struggles to earn his living because of emergence of garment-making units. The play

Chilanthi by students of Cotton Hills GHS, Thiruvananthapuram, narrated the plight of a victim of deception in the cyberworld.