Theatre is a platform for us to protest against governments and religious fundamentalism, Lebanese director Junaid Sariddhin has said.
He was talking about the Zoukak Theatre group, Lebanon, while attending the ‘Meet the artist’ programme at the seventh International Theatre Festival of Kerala here on Monday.
“We are on a mission to recapture the cultural heritage, which was destroyed by the western colonisation. The experience here is like coming back to our roots. In our play we try to redefine all kinds of power. No hierarchy has been maintained such as script writer, director, actors and audience. Through this we are trying to question every aspect of power such as religion, governments and the society,” said the Zoukak theatre activists.
No support
“The government does not support any art and cultural activities in Lebanon. The packed audience here provided energy for our theatre activities,” Mr. Sariddhin said.
Curators of the festival M.V. Narayanan, Surendranath, artistic director Shankar Venkiteshawaran and others participated in the discussion.
The plays of Zoukak theatre, including ‘He Who Saw Everything’; ‘Death Comes through the Ice’, and ‘I hate Theatre-I love Pornography’, will be staged at the festival.
Long queues
There were serpentine queues in front of the ticket counters at the regional theatre, which pointed to the popularity of the festival. Instead of delegate passes, this time the organisers have made arrangements to sell tickets for morning shows.
Addressing a discussion about the theatre, Naripatta Raju, eminent theatre personality, said that over the years ITFoK could bring the changes that were happening in the theatre movements across the world to the State.
