Actors exist in a space where imagination transcends mundane reality. There is the magic that reworks reality to take the viewers to a heightened state of experience. Theatre being a powerful medium of social and political communication and as its role in redefining the public space is unique, actors have a major role to play in bringing about social change.
The power of theatre in social communication was brought home to a select gathering at the Bharat Bhavan, under the Department of Culture, as its five-day theatre workshop came to a close in the capital city on Sunday.
Using masks and stylised movements, the participants in the theatre workshop showed to the audience the true colours of those who run after positions, power and pelf in society and polity.
It is a world of chairs, symbolic of power, that the children delineated as they worked through the play, revealing to the gathering how powerful theatre can be in taking a critical view of life and society.
Inaugurating the closing ceremony of the workshop, Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) chairman Rajmohan Unnithan said theatre has the power to bring about change. Children should dream big and try their best to make a difference through theatre. Concurring with him, Director of Public Relations Rani George said the young actors have brought to light corruption at various levels within a few minutes,”
Kaserakali, the play was indicative of the creative potential of the children who had participated in the camp.
Prasanth Narayanan, director of the theatre workshop, said, “We don’t demand anything from the participants. We just want them to think, to observe and do what they think is right. Please don’t judge the play on your terms, but as a platform to bring out the imagination, communication capabilities and creativity of the children.”
Ät a time when technology rules people’s lives and people waste lives naming constellations and stars, theatre is one way of collective imagination of the human possibilities, said Brahmanayakam, theatre activist.
“Only observation can lead to creativity and bring in new forms and art,” he said.
Neethu Sabu
