 at a workshop by artist John Baby (left) at the art room of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in December.jpg.image.160.84.jpg)
.jpg.image.160.84.jpg)
.jpg.image.160.84.jpg)
Scene from the play 'Josephinte Radio'. Photo: Gitanjali Diwakar
The Ekahari Ekahari Performance Festival which was held from 25-28th December 2014 held at Kalikota Palace in Kochi, showcased some of the best mono acts by renowned Indian theater artists.
Each play in the festival was followed by a filler show by a group of clowns. These shows touched upon issues related to child abuse and several societal concerns.
The theatre festival primarily highlighted experimental plays from across the country.
One of them was an improvised version of Shakespear’s famous play Hamlet and the other was a Malayalam play titled ‘Josephinte Radio.’
‘Starring popular theatre artist Jayachandran Thagadikal, ‘Josephinte Radio’ play was presented in Malayalam and throws light upon democracy, religion and other issues of today’s world.
Joseph, is an ordinary person and is possessive of one thing; and one thing alone. He loves his radio. To him, life, without the radio was incomplete. It is his main source of entertainment and information. It is the only link between him and the world around him. One day, his radio stops working.
Determined to fix favourite gadget, he walks up and down; through the thorny bushes and on the steep slopes. But to his dismay none of the repairers in the land could fix his radio. Upset and disheartened, he wonders who would inform him about the world around him and sing to him at night. But Joseph does not give up.
The presentation was truly one of a kind. The dialogues were simple and easily comprehensible. Something we could relate to. The highlight of the play was the protagonist, played by Thagadikal. The voice modulation throughout the play was superlative in every sense. One could connect with the character almost instantly. In short, the audience could sense the joy and sorrow of the character. The spurts of humor, Everything about the story seemed to blend perfectly. The music was in sync with the simple lighting by Shah Jahan.
A scene from 'to kill or not to kill'. Photo: Gitanjali Diwakar
‘To kill or not to Kill’ was play directed and performed by Jhilmil Hajarika. The story of the play was inspired by Shakespear’s Hamlet. This play was bilingual and focused on the dilemmas surrounding womanhood. It had also addressed issues of domestic violence, sexual abuse etc.
This play was heavy in terms of its presentation and the content. It was an experiment in many ways. Unlike ‘Josephinte Radio,’ this play saw the active involvement of the audiences during the course of the drama. The lighting was unique. This play saw the actor change characters throughout the play as well. These characters were distinguished by mild alterations in the costume. The play had a few satirical elements as well. The actor had done a commendable job in terms of voice modulation and swapping characters. The dialogues however, were not scripted in conversational Hindi and thus did make interpretation difficult.
All in all the festival was a wonderful initiative to highlight theatre groups and artists across the country. “We hope to bring in international theatre artists for the festival as well,” said Abhilash Pillai, the director of the festival.
Disclaimer
The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Manorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.