Sunday, December 29, 2013

International Theatre Festival of Kerala ITFoK-6th Chapter from Jan 27 to Feb 03

itfokThe sixth chapter of the International theatre festival of Kerala is on. Productions from India, Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Srilanka, Norway, Slovakia, Iran, Czech Republic and Israel will be performed at different venues from 27th Jan 2013 to 03rd of Feb. 2013 at Trissur, Kerala. Brief info of the plays performed are given below.

27.01.14

1.The Kitchen/ Roysten Abel 

roysten-abel-the-kitchenThe set becomes the soul, mizhavu, the percussion instrument, the body, and the proscenium, the extended kitchen for a landmark theatrical recipe in his recent work The Kitchen.

The actors, man and woman, stir the payasam in the huge vessels placed before them, meticulously, with long ladles as they work up the steam, gazing at each other. Their shoulders move in the rhythm off the mizhavu’s in the ensemble. “I wanted to move away from the text and experience theatre as a ritual. The idea is to arrive at some light, to realise the basic trajectory in theatre.” He adds, “I am not bound by the thought of performing natak”.

2.Burning Flowers- 7 dreams of a woman/Paweł Szkotak/ indian polish collaboration/TBP/Poland

This indo polish collaborpowelative theatre project will explore the issue of gender, focussing on the problem of violence against women in India and elsewhere. The idea behind this project is to take theatre to people in every walk of life, non theatre goers, and ordinary passers bye; to strike with the art in the street. Indian researchers, dramaturge and performers will collaborate with the cast of Teatr Biuro Podrozy from Poland to create a powerful, expressive and evocative outdoor performance.

28 01 2014

1. C Sharp C Blunt / Sophia Stepf / Finntheatre Kassel Berlin, / Indo-German / 75 min / Solo

C sharpDrawing on a wide range of talent, this devised performance is bound to intrigue as it goes on an exploration of the (un)known. Directed by Sophia Stepf from Berlin, Germany, singer actor MD Pallavi performs in her first ever solo performance, a funny, sarcastic and political rendition of the latest App in the market- The Singer App. - attractive, user-friendly and very efficient; the most downloaded App in 2013. Writers Irawati Karnik and Swar Thounaojam contribute as content writers for the play.

2 Mephisto Waltz / Anton Adassinsky / Germany / Derevo

mephisto1Mephisto Waltz is a gospel of dance, sincere story of person and declaration of love.- “Don’t look around, it’s not yours. Look into yourself. Look in the inmost recesses of your heart...-...maybe it’s my years, maybe it’s the end of Dance Theatre, maybe it’s the madness of a world where people still make wars that divide the Gods...- And you forget that all feelings of the world, and rains, and sounds, and cities, and birds, and people, and stars, and everything.... is YOU. -And really you need nothing - But simply live with a rainbow in your heart.” “Adasinsky (The Art Director) was able to find such a powerful physical equivalent to those incomprehensible images from the poem by Arseny Golenischev-Kutuzov, where the Death simultaneously caresses and buries the ones, that it seems to me even if Mephisto Waltz was only consisting of the very first scene, this chronologically most recent work by DEREVO could hardly be named anything but a masterpiece.”

3. Hum Mukhtara (Hindi) / Usha Ganguli / Rangkarmee, West Bengal / Kolkata / 80 min

mukhtar1This play is based on the life of Mukhtar Mai. It is the true story of Mukhtar, a Pakistani woman who was raped as a punishment for the acts of indiscretion by her brother. Mukhtar fought back by speaking about it, persuading the case with the help of domestic and international media and led to a remarkable change in the feminist movement in Pakistan. In 2002, six men, including the four rapists, were sentenced to death, but later in 2005 Lahore High Court acquitted five of them and reduced the punishment of the sixth man to a life sentence. The play is a close portrayal of Mukhtar’s life and makes us ponder about the increasing number of crimes against women.

4. Beegam Panickar (Malayalam) / Kumara Varma / Fine Arts Consortium of SSUC Theatre Repertory, Kaladi / Kerala / 140 minbegum

Begum Panikkar is a Malayalam adaptation of the reputed Marathi playwright Satish Alekar's well-known play, 'Begum Barve,' that tells the story of a small time actor of 19th century Marathi stage who used to perform female roles. Prof. Ramesh Varma, presents the leading character of Begum Barve or Begum Panikkar, as the Malayalam adaptation transform barve into a Kathakali actor performing female characters

29.01.14

1. Transfiguration / Olivier de Sagazan / France

transfigurationFor more than 20 years, Olivier de Sagazan has Developed a hybrid practice that Integrates paint-ing, photography, sculpture, and performance. In his existential performative series Transfiguration, l which he Began in 2001 Sagazan builds layers of clay and paint onto His own face and body to transform, take apart and disfigure, revealing an animalistic human who is seeking to break away from the physical world. At once disquieting and deeply moving, this new body of work collapses the boundaries between the physical, intellectual, spiritual and animalistic senses. The artist states: "I am interested in seeing to what degree people think its normal, or odd trite, to be alive." Olivier de Sagazan has performed widely in France and Europe, Canada, Brazil, Korea in art galleries, museums, and film festivals. His expressive and inimitable style, it is no wonder to Sagazan's remarkable "body art" work is featured in the non-verbal movie Samsara, the Sequel to Baraka, directed by Ron Fricke.

.2. Irakalodu Mathramalla Samsarikkendathu (Malayalam)/ D. Reghoothaman & M.G. Jyothish / Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, Tvm / Kerala / 120 min 

irakalodu The play ‘Irakalodu Mathramalla Samsarikkendathu’ raised several questions about the status of women in Kerala and the gender divide. Instead of shrill cries of protest or sloganeering, the play, comprising six monologues by six women, highlighted the turmoil and pain, physical and emotional, of women caught on the wrong side of the establishment or society on account of circumstances. Coming from different strata of society and age groups, these women spoke about various issues ranging from infanticide to child marriage and domestic violence but all their narratives underlined their social isolation and alienation from a society that expected them to be fit into a mould made by a patriarchal world.

3. Satyashodhak (Marathi)/ Atul Pethe / Pune Mahanagarpalika Kamgar Union, Pune / 105 min

satyashodhakThis a production based on G P Deshpande’s 1992 play Satyashodhak on the life of the 19th century anti-caste crusader Jyotiba Phule, performed by Dalit and members of the Pune Municipal Safai Karmacharis Union directed by Atul Pethe. This production incorporates folk theatre and “felicity with music” shown by the almost entirely non-professional cast with different voices and instruments used by local communities around Maharashtra these performances challenge the stagnation that afflicts parts of mainstream Marathi theatre, especially its voice – both literal and metaphorical. With the guttural pull of the Marathi intonation, the quality of the singing, the supreme ease with which the actors slid in and out of different roles or the effortless direction, the play mesmerises the viewer. The play ends with the question of caste brought back to the question of class, taking head on the hugely important political question of the relationship between these where caste and class remain mutually reinforcing.

4. Double Act Athava Kunhambuvinte Chanchattam (Malayalam) / Narippatta Raju / Natyasastra Nataka Padana Kendram, Pkd / Kerala / 22 min

double actThe play turns a fresh look into man’s complex psyche while addressing his inherent duality of character, persona, and dilemma through a set of comic intrigues. In Double Act Adhava Kunjambuvinte Chanchattam, the protagonist implodes to form two distinct persons, each representing the duality within him, who break into a heated dispute with each other. The play stages how Kunjambu, the lead character regains his self after an intrepid walk on thin line that called his very sanity into question.

5. Chakka (Malayalam)/ C.R. Rajan, K.B. Hari & Prabalan Veloor / Thrissur Nataka Sangham, Trissur / 65 min

23tvf_chakka_1559283f‘Chakka’, is a satire on ill-effects of globalisation and consumerism, which makes us willing to accept everything marketed from the west and ignore and destroy our traditional products and culture. The play also portrays the threat the market economy poses to our natural resources and culture. Presented in the ‘alley’ theatre form with people sitting two sides of the stage, and revolves around a jackfruit tree and two neighbours.

6.Burning Flowers- 7 dreams of a woman- TBP-Poland (Repeat Show)

30.01.13

1. Transfiguration / Olivier de Sagazan / France (Repeat Show)

2. Della Tua Carne (Dead Man Walking) / Rosanna Cieri & Simona Cieri / Italy / Motus

della2The power of incapables is built on death and extermination. Terror plays its macabre concert with screaming, agony laments, pain shouts. Guilt payment legitimates barbarity. I could not bend your mind, but when everything is over, I will massacre your flesh. On 14 September 2000 the young italian-american Derek Rocco Barnabei is put to death by the tribunal of Virginia that retains him guilty for the homicide of his girl friend Sarah Wisnovsky on September 1993. Derek has been in jail seven years, trying to demonstrate his innocence.«I am innocent... At the end the truth will come out: continue my fight». These are his last words. MOTUS dedicates this performance to Derek an to his strong fight to denounce the atrocity of death penalty

3. Caucasian Chalk Circle / Parakrama Niriella / Srilanka / Janakaraliya

caucasian2Janakaraliya is a multi-ethnic platform to share values, customs, traditions and cultures via drama, irrespective of one's religion, race, language or caste Language is no barrier for the Janakaraliya team. The strong message they communicate to the world through their works is; human beings as one race share more or less same emotion. Thus language automatically becomes a mere means of communication -- They present an adaptation based on Berthold Brecht’s epic text.

4. Open Air Action / Anton Adassinsky / Germany / Derevo

open air actionDEREVO is a physical theatre company founded by Anton Adasinsky in 1988 in St. Petersburg (former Leningrad), Russia, later in Prague, Czech Republic and now based in Dresden, Germany since 1996. The group is famous for open air performances and impromptu improvisations. EREVO's work is noted for its lack of structure and the sudden changes in routines of non-verbal essays on the potential for violence and rebirth when emotions are trapped within the body politic. The performances of DEREVO are alarmingly anarchist and therefore are in refreshing contrast with well calculated chaos we experience in plays of the western groups...

31.01.2013

1. Revolutionary Messages / Lars Oyno / Norway / Grusommetens Teater

revolutionary“Revolutionary Messages” refers to the three lectures Antonin Artaud gave at the University of Mexico City on the 26th, 27th and 29th of February 1936, and which were later published with the same title. The performance is inspired by these texts in addition to Artaud’s last writings – collected in 408 sketch books.

2. Della Tua Carne (Dead Man Walking) / Rosanna Cieri & Simona Cieri / Italy / Motus - Repeated show

3. Virasat / Anuradha Kapur / NSD Repertory / New Delhi / 180 min

VIRAASATVirasat written in 1982 by thespian dramatist Mahesh Elkunchwar chronicles the life of the Deshpandes, their graft-ridden meteoric rise and equally inevitable fall to dust. In a set of rafters and pillars around a square cesspool in the middle where action takes place on all sides, spectators — seated as though in the wings — witness fortunes and struggles of the Deshpandes. It is a cyclic saga that moves between many registers, without specific heroes or anti-heroes, to unfold the evolving history of a family. In a sense, the play mirrors social and cultural shifts and mores that mark the 20th century in present-day India.

4. Thiranheduppu / Appunni Sasi / Janam Nathaka Vedi, Kozhikode / Kerala / 45 min / Solo

01.02.2013

1. unSeen / Vishnupad Barve / Process Theatre Z / Goa / 55 min / Solo

barve

unSeen is a devised performance based on Rabindranath Tagore’s Letter (Ramabai-er Baktritar Upalakhse) written with reference to a lecture that Pandita Ramabai delivered at Pune, (Maharashtra, India) in 1891 where she asserted that women can do anything that men can, except drinking alcohol.In a thorough interrogation of the great poet’s misconstrued notion of womanhood, the play examines aspects like woman’s self, her body, the male gaze over female body, her biological cycle of life, deification and objectification of women, and her life in the patriarchal order, producing a critique of each simultaneously. The soundscape of unSeen is designed so as to create the household spaces of an Indian woman.

2. Hilum / Patrick Sims / France / The Antliclastes

hilumHilum is a spooky fantasy created by marionette designer and manipulator Patrick Sims of Les Antliaclastes puppet theater. The manipulators dressed and masked in white lace become a part of the surreal world of Hilum as they interact with the puppets in an opium-like dream. Hilum takes place in the basement laundry room of a second-rate Natural History Museum. The cellarage is populated by a host of dubiously adorable urchins who have, for some reason or other, been cut off from the rest of the kingdom of curiosities that has remained ordered upstairs. Washer-women attend to their opus of bleaching laundry; what starts off as mere women’s work and child’s play eventually becomes a downright theatre of cruelty.

3. Epic / Jozef Vlk / Slovakia / Debris Company

epic_7The physical theatre Debris Company is a group that occupies a unique position in the Slovak theatre scene. Their members constantly expand the boundaries of their creativity, poetics and style. Those usually lay in a combination of music, dance, light, stage design and a strong message and what matters even more, on their coordination.The work of Bertolt Brecht –Lehrstücke is the a source of inspiration to the production Epic; a homage to the work of B. Brecht and K. Weill, and at the same time it is a polemic on the purpose and meaning of theatre nowadays. The creators thus go down to the basic question which Brecht would ask himself a long time ago: “What is today's theatre like and what is its social purpose? Is it actually still able to convey social criticism at all? Can it be the voice of an "oppressed" majority against an elitarian minority?”

4 Urvara Sangeetham (Malayalam)/ C.M. Narayanan & Arunlal V / Kala Patasala, Arangottukara, / 80 min

urvarasanThe play is based on a tribal myth that elucidates how the children of primordial mother and father took to farming paddy. The play expounds the vital nexus between humans and mother Earth, and paints a verdurous picture of soil’s abundance and Mother Nature’s bounty.

02.02.2014

1. Awkward Happiness or Everything I don’t remember in Meeting You. (Polish, English, French and Slovak) / Dir. Matej Matejka / Poland / Studio Matejka/60 min

awkward-fot-karol-jarek-01The journey of two couples in their struggles to discover happiness. Four different perspectives on the nature of happiness and how to reach it (or not). The performance is a reflection on the futility of happiness, inspired by Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Pascal Bruckner’s Perpetual Euphoria. The seed of the performance began from Studio Matejka’s research on the human body in contemporary performance practices, in residency with the Grotowski Institute, the physical training and exercises were explored through themes and images drawn from the performers’ own inspirations.

2. 2. Hilum / Patrick Sims / France / The Antliclastes- Repeated performance

3. Two Liter Multiply Two Liter Peace / Hamid Reza Azarang / Iran / Rooyak

twolitresbytwolitresIranian dramatist Hamid Azarang won the Best Dramatist Award for his play “Two Liter Multiply Two Liter Peace” in the 30th Fajr International Theater Festival. Best Musician Award also went to Masud Sekhavat dust for the play. Two Liters by Two Liters of Peace, is an abstract treatment of the subject of war inspired by Beckett's and Ionesco's theater of the absurd. On an empty white stage, two couples in dark sunglasses, and miners costumes are moving like robots; each representing a nation, separated by a large, sinuous blue strip sketched on the floor -- the strip evoked a border. Two Liters by Two Liters of Peace was expressing not only war's universal absurdity but also the very immediate fears of its own social context.

4. The Winters Tale / Anirudh Nair & Neel Choudhari / Wide Aisle Productions & The Tadpole Repertory / Haryana / 150 min

wintersThe Winter's Tale is a transcendent work of death and revival, exploring irrational jealousy, the redemptive world of nature, and the magical power of art. Sweeping across two continents and two generations, it is a play of suspicions and secrets, with the mythic beauty of a fairytale. It is a play with song and dance, humour and tragedy, betrayal and redemption. The staging the play is in an outdoor space; the audience will move between locations as the play unfolds against a vivid landscape.

03.02.2013

1. S/He is Nancy Joe / Dir. Mirenka Cechova / Czech Republic / Tantehors

nancy This solo ‘physical mime theatre’ is about the transgender experience that capture the deep confusion, shame and isolation of the transgender experience, an experience that sprang from honest origins - Cechova has a transgender sister who used to be her brother and her efforts to reconcile to that. Cechova, delivers this roller coaster of the soul through comic-book projections and a mashed-up dance language that borrows from hip-hop, ballet and the ooze of melted wax, within the confines of tiny black-box space, turning her body, into a battleground of self-identity and societal censure. Visuals that accompany her performance are rough-drawn, often-crude sketches (by fellow Czech artist Milos Mazal, with animation by Tomas Tomsa Legierski), Matous Hekela’s sound composition of warbles and groans is an indistinct landscape of turbulence.

2. The Neighbours Grief is Greener / Emanuella Amichai / Israel / Isreal Visual Theatre/40 min

neighEmanuella Amichai’s ‘The Neighbors’ Grief is Always Greener’ is a dance theater performance in slapstick style with balletically timed precision, and focuses on the relationship between the sexes. It takes place in an archetypal kitchen that is reminiscent of a television studio and alludes to the 1950s, in which four housewifes and one man carry on their daily routine. The Neighbour’s Grief is Greener takes on 1950s and 60s American domesticity as well as stereotypes of gendered behaviour and sexuality, turning them inside out to reveal a much darker place; highlighted with popular music from the era, or snippets of radio advertisements or the sound from a television show or interview.

3. Insurrections ensembles /poetry music / South Africa, India

insurrectionFeaturing poets and ethnomusicologists from India and South Africa. The project sees the rich sounds of the Indian music tradition blend with African instruments accompanying radical poetry from both continents. ? Insurrections, a collection of compositions, is the product of a poetry-music collaboration that addressed the relationship between word, voice, expression and sound around shared social and political concerns between India and South Africa .

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Draupadi @Kolkota

Draupadi a play in Malayalam that tells the story of womanhood was performed at Madhyamgram Nazrul Satabarshiki Sadan, on 22nd of November 2013, as part of The Para Porshir, The National Theatre Festival organised by Alternative Living Theatre Madhyamgram Kolkota. The festival was from November 20th to 24th .

Draupadi

This play analyses the living relationship between a contemporary Indian girl with the epic character Draupadi - a search into the multiple layers by which the motif of Draupadi is living inside the psyche and reality of an Indian women.

Draupadi is wedded to five great men and also is the love of Krishna, the universal lover. It seems that she is the happiest lady on earth. But all men have their own priorities and perception; none of them acknowledged her individuality, potentials, and needs; not even her sexuality. She was another pawn in the game of politics, and has to sacrifice her ideals, dreams, and life itself.

Draupadi is a woman of deep understanding and intelligence; she choose to keep silent and live through, with the full knowledge that it was unjust and that she deserved better than what she got. She was also not all that empowered to break out of the constraints and abandon the people or her family. This is where she becomes the representative of the contemporary Indian woman who is aware but also tied into the archetypes of family and morality fed into her by the collective conscience of her roots.

The play uses paintings, music, movement, puppets, props and lights to enhance performance and is in tune with the mode and aesthetics of Indian art.

The artists who participated in this performance are Sukanya Shaji, VR Selvaraj. Shaiju T Hamza , Latif Ceepee, Kishore NK, Srikanth, Bhanuvajanen and Madan Kolavil.

This is the 4th  Show of Draupadi, the third one being at Tripunithua , Kerala.

The groups that performed in this festival are Nandikar (Kolkata), Manch Rang Manch (Punjab), Lokadharmi (Kerala), Alternative Living Theatre (Kolkata) and Kalakshetra (Manipur)

Alternative living theatre organised this national theatre event of immense talent and quality Indian drama of modern times and all time greats. The teams participating are both well known and artistically acclaimed of superb audience applause.

Though Madhyamgram has a long history of theatre and festivals, quite a good number of theatre groups  make it one of the important cultural hubs of West Bengal, but a national theatre of this stature is the first time in Madhyamgram. Regional theatres are performed almost on a daily basis, all famous teams of Kolkata have performed here and the audience is a welcome host to all theatrical activities. Even we have been performing in the venue one show every month and we draw a steady crowd of good quantity and quality. A steady flow of theatre goers is already present and a lot of audience also comes from Kolkata as well. Therefore any good drama has a good opportunity to become a success.

­Nandikar: (Kolkata, West Bengal)- Nandikar's story begins on June 29, 1960, when Ajitesh Bandopadhyay and Asit Bandopadhyay, along with a collection of committed young theatre persons, broke away and formed the group, which consisted of Ajoy Ganguly, Satyan Mitra, Dipen Sengupta, later joined by Keya Chakravorty, Bibhas Chakravorty, and Rudraprasad Sengupta.

The group's early productions were mainly adaptations of non-Indian plays, like Natyakarer Sandhane Chhati Charitra (Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author), Manjari Amer Manjari (Chekhov's Cherry Orchard), Jokhan Eka (Arnold Wesker's Roots), Sher Afgan (Pirandello's Henry IV) and Tin Poyshar Pala (Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera). They also performed Rabindranath Tagore's Char Adhyaya.

In the late 1970s, first Asit Bandopadhyay and then Ajitesh Bandopadhyay left the group. With Rudraprasad Sengupta as the main director, a new era started, and Nandikar turned from a pure performance-oriented theatre group to an organisation with a wide range of projects, including the annual National Theatre Festival.

Among the group's present actresses and actors are Swatilekha Sengupta, who starred in Satyajit Ray's movie Ghare Baire (The Home and the World) (1984) and Roland Joffé's City of Joy (1992), Goutam Halder, (he has left the group and formed a new one, initially becoming its director), Debshankar Halder, Sohini Sengupta Halder, who acted in Aparna Sen's movie Paromitar Ek Din (2000), and Rudraprasad Sengupta himself. Besides acting in Nandikar productions, he has also played in Bernardo Bertolucci's Little Buddha (1993).

Nandikar regularly performs all over India. However, during the last decade, the group has performed in several countries outside India, including Bangladesh, Germany, Sweden, UK, and USA.

Manch Rang Manch: (Amritsar, Punjab) -Amritsar based Punjabi Theatre Group Manch Rangmanch was founded by one of the NSD, students and eminent Punjabi Theatre Director Kewal Dhaliwal in Sep 1991 with an aim to uproot social evils in order to bring social awareness. The group started its work as a cultural organization but soon it focused on the promotion of quality theatre in Punjab by blending traditional theatre forms with modern techniques and on providing entertainment which has a social relevance. Now group works in the field of theatre production, publishing theatre books and organizing theatre workshops and theatre festivals.

Active in and committed to the cause of Punjabi Theatre for almost two decades now, Manch Rangmanch, Amritsar is one of the most prominent theatre groups in Punjab and has about forty artists affiliated with it. The group has focused especially on the training of children in these workshops. The group has, so far staged about 150 different plays and performed more than 1800 shows both in India and abroad. Manch Rangmanch organizes every year a month long production oriented theatre workshop at Amrtisar for young theatre workers in collaboration with National School of Drama and a ten days National Theatre Festival.

Group Leader: The group Mancha Rangmanch was founded by Kewal Dhaliwal, a renowned theatre director and graduate of National School of Drama, New Delhi. After Harpal Tiwana and Toni Batish, Kewal Dhaliwal made successful efforts to put Punjabi drama on commercial lines.

Annual theatre festivals with the collaboration of NSD is a major event of Manch-Rangmanch besides its productions. Group also present Awards and honors to theatre people to recognize their contribution to Indian Theatre. S. Gursharan Singh, Sh. D.R. Ankur, Smt. Neelam Maan Singh, Smt. Usha Ganguly Sh. Usman Peer Zada and Sh. Shahid Nadeem are some of the renowned theatre personalities honored by the group.

Lokadharmi: (Kochi, Kerala) The name Lokadharmi is taken from Natyasastra, the ancient Indian manual on theatre written by Bharatha around 100 BC, a complete book on theatre that classifies and codifies dramatic structure, dramatic language, poetry, aesthetics, actor training, music, construction of theatre house and even the definition of a true spectator. It classifies theatre into Natyadharmi (stylized, abstract and based on an elaborate system of sign language that appeals to a connoisseur) and Lokadharmi (popular, closer to realistic, folk or the style of the people. It also means ‘concerned about the world and its affairs’)

In October 1991, twenty-five theatre enthusiasts comprising of actors, musicians, artists and scholars started working together under the direction of Chandradasan, a prominent theatre person, at Kochi, Kerala, India. This theatre company named as Lokadharmi has flourished as one of the important centre for theatre training, research and performance in India.

The beginning was the theatre training school,where actors were given intense training in acting and introduced them to the different acting systems from all over the world that included the traditional Indian theatre like that of Kathakali, Koodiyattam, and many folk forms like Mudiyettu, Padayani, Theyyam and a lot other narrative theatre forms widely existing in Kerala. Also the techniques from Greek Theatre, Theatre of Shakespeare, Modern theatre starting from Stanislavski and the method acting, Artuad and the theatre of Cruelty, Grotowski and the physical theatre, Brecht and epic theatre, to the newer experiments done by Peter Brook and Eugene Barba are used. While doing all this at and at the same time rooted deep in the theater and performance tradition of the land.

The study was also on the history and envelopment of theater all over through world; the change in perceptions of theatre and also on the different ages mould a theatre was undertaken. For convenience and clarity we designed a cyclic format for training that is broadly divided into different phases of one year duration focusing on Indian classical and Traditional Theatre, European classic theatre, the Kerala Theatre, Contemporary Indian Theatre, And the Modern Theatre all over the world.

The theatre training school has its regular sections on all Sundays and has been on the run without any break from October 1991. Faculty from all over the world has visited the school and done Workshops to train our artists.

Also Lokadharmi undertakes extension workshops at rural areas, schools and colleges to initiate theatre awareness among aspiring artists and art lovers.

Artistic Director ; Chandra Dasan: The Artistic director of Lokadharmi and the founder member of the group is one of the important figures in Indian theatre. He has directed more than 30 plays in a career of 25 years, that include classics to slapstick comedy to children's theatre in the languages Malayalam, English, Sanskrit and Kannada. These were performed widely all over India in important theatre festivals and also in Greece recently. He is also a research scholar with many papers to his credit published in celebrated journals. He is actively involved in campus theatre and street theatre, and is a professor in Chemistry at St.Albert's college, Kochi.

Alternative Living Theatre: (Madhyamgram, Kolkata) - In 1977,Probir Guha established the Living Theatre (at present Alternative Living Theatre)in Khardaha, Gathering around him a group of Kolkata, gathering around him a group disenchanted and unemployed local youth from impoverished lower middle-class families. He chose Khardaha as the location for the ALTERNATIVE LIVING THEATRE, so that he can save ALT from the so called urban drama and threats to its integrity posed by the commercialism and economic pressures of the city. And he recruited actors form among the under privileged class to create a theatre shaped by their own struggles and suffering. The Alternative Living Theatre struggles and suffering almost exclusively in the small towns and villages of West Bengal and neighbouring states and abroad. It his initiative that consistently attacked communalism, social obscurantism, oppressive social conventions, superstition and political apathy, while attempting to build new ideals and sow the seeds of change in human minds.

The Alternative Living Theatre rejects the "problem Theatre" of Urban intellectuals in favour of a theatre of living feelings. Which focuses less on the issues then on the experience of hunger, unemployment and social inequality, and which portrays the pain, humiliation, disillusionment and alienation of the downtrodden.

Drama which intellectualizes oppression and exploitation marks that reality 'safe' for the audience instead of compelling them to confront it. The Alternative Living Theatre also rejects alternative theatre movement which lay claim to relevance because they dramatize social realities in the streets. It is not enough to show the death of a man on stage, and earn applause; it is necessary to make visible the pain of dying, to disturb and challenge the audience to confront the image of their reality. Therefore they have discarded the same monotonous grammatical acting and have experiment and evolved a new aesthetic of theatre where physicality is the means of communication. The main ingredients have been taken from culture and martial arts from all over India and abroad, Such as, Chow, Thang-ta, Karasama, Kalari-payet, Kabuinaga, Odisi, Topeng, Leong, Kathakali, Bhartnattyam, raibenshe &many more.

The group has its own big training centre in a calm and quite environment. About 30 students could be accommodated for alternative living theatre workshops at its own centre and abroad A.L.T. is just not a theatre group instead, its a movement, unity, power and altogether a family where we love, scream, enjoy and happily share theatre among ourselves.

Artistic Director: PROBIR GUHA  -Born in 1948 in Khardah, an industrial suburb of Calcutta, Shri Probir Guha read Economics and Political Science for his Bachelor’s degree from Calcutta University in 1968. A year later he formed his first theatre company, Naam Nahin, and created plays working with the group for two years. He subsequently worked with Bibhash Chakraborti and Badal Sircar in Calcutta, and was inspired by the latter’s example to look for new ways of doing theatre.

Moving back to Khardah, Shri Guha established a new company, Living Theatre, in 1977, and worked with unemployed local youth to create a theatre shaped by their own struggle and suffering. Since renamed Alternative Living Theatre, this company has developed a new aesthetics and forged new tools of expression, moving away from the linear narration, speech and movement of conventional drama. Performing in small towns and villages, the theatre has consistently attacked communalism, social obscurantism, oppressive social conventions, superstition and political apathy, while attempting to build new ideas and sow seeds of change in human minds. Shri Guha has directed more then fifty plays with his own company and other groups, performing widely in India and neighbouring countries. He continues to do experimental theatre with various marginalized groups such as landless peasants, juvenile offenders, and sex workers. His work has been lauded by leading minds in world theatre including Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski, and Eugenio Barba. He has had occasion to work with these masters abroad and has himself conducted workshops in Poland, Germany, and the United States.

Among other honours Shri Guha has received a Commemorative Award for People’s Theatre from the American Biographical Institute. Shri Probir Guha received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for his contribution to Indian theatre as a director.

Kalakshetra : (Manipur) The main objective was to study, revive and project the culture of Manipur through the art of theatre and to set highest standards of performance to match not only the best in India but the world theatre scene.

As Kalakshetra believed in the notion of a workshop that is a laboratory or research theatre rather than a production company it began its experiment in a continuous process of 'renewal of ancestral tradition' for a contemporary cultural expression as they are all the progeny of an etho - social tradition of Manipur. The artists of the group endeavored to learn afresh the native lore traveling throughout the nook and corner of Manipur and strengthened their creative will. They created the performances for the 'work-in-progress' shows rather than 'Public Theatre'-a finished production for public exhibition.

Besides, the group launched cultural expedition in organizing theatre events with the non-actors in three different socio - cultural contexts. They were: (i)performance of NUPI LAN (Women's war of Manipur, 1939)in which market women around one hundred from women's market of Imphal town took the active participation in December, 1978 as players, (ii)At Umathel, a sleepy village in the remote corner of southern Manipur SANJENNAHA (cowherd) was performed by the villagers themselves in December, 1979, and (iii)Introduced theatre in the tribal area of Paite community of Churachandpur district with the production of THANGHOU LEH LIANDOU performed by tribal youths in March, 1980.

Along with the training and research programmes the group created remarkable performances that stood out as milestone of an originally alternate theatre.

Artistic Director: Heisnam Kanhailal (b 17 January 1941) is a noted art theatre personality from Indian state of Manipur .He was awarded Padma Shri award by Government of India in 2004 for his work. He is the founder-Director of Kalakshetra Manipur, established in 1969, a theatre laboratory that explores a new vocabulary in the existing language of theatre.

Born in Keisamthong Thangjam Lairak, Imphal. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Direction in 1985, given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. In Dec,2011, He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademy Ratna Award (the Highest ranked and most valued academy award)-2011.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Scenes Behind The Screen Of a Theatre Artiste

SUDARSAN MAHARANA – ORISSA POST , BHUBANESWR NOVEMBER 13,2013

Theatre has produced several glorious artistes for our country as well as for our state, while theatre enjoys a sizeable audience, a large number of artist despite being successful in their own right, go unnoticed without their share of fame. Timeout speaks to a theatre artist participating at the ongoing National Theatre Festival on the craft, how artistes prepare for plays, the problems they face and what make them tick.

orissa post i

"Sometimes we have to practice for months or year for a play and sometimes we have to prepare ourselves in less than a week depending upon the script and circumstances. an artist has to endure a lot of suffering if he want to succeed in theatre." Says Chandradasan, founder of the lokadharmi theatre and one of the directors of Vishwavikhyatmaya Mookku.

Lokadharmi Theatre is based in Kochi, Kerala and has contributed immensely to the growth of the theatre. Established in 1991, the theatre stages play across the country.

"We require different artist across different age groups for a particular play. in our theatre at Kochi, we have around hundreds of artist to choose from for performing in a play. We also have a theatre school and a theatre group for children. Both are the integral part of lokadharmi theatre; children with a desire to act in plays come and join us," Chandradasan said.

On theatre still doing well across the country, Chandradasan a theatre exponent for over 35 years, says that,"It is the love and passion of theatre artistes which has helped the art form survive in our state as well as across the India. there is hardly any good money in theatre but most of our artist have separate source of income and their passion for acting brings them here."

citing the example of national award winning music director Bijibal Maniyil and famous director Roshan Andrews who started their carreers with Lokadharmi theatre, Chandradasan says,"it is not as if overtime, theatre has lost its importance. people still love to watch theatre. Many acclaimed actors, directors and musicians among others have started their carrier from theatre which helped them achieve the peaks of success in their respective fields."

While several steps are being by the state governments to popularise theatre, the National Theatre Festival is actually one of those which serves the purpose of promoting the art form. However it is for the people of the state to decide if we are doing good job or not, say the artist of the lokadharmi theatre.

Vishwavikhyatmaya Mookku is a play directed by Chandradasan and Terry Converse which they staged Tuesday evening at Rabindra Mandap. "The play is staged in malayalam and Gibberish(nonsensical chatter) and around 15 artists perform in 65 minute play. We use gibberish generously throughout our play, as a part of an experiment to show that we can communicate with anyone through signs and body languages.We wanted to convey that language isn't strictly a prerequisite for communicating with others".

The play is about an educated young man who is a foolish simpleton working as a cook in a rich man's house. However he undergoes a transformation after his 24th birthday, and at the end of the play the people around him are shown as the sillier lot  than the cook.

orissa post 2

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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku at Odisha National Theatre Festival Bhubaneswar

Lokadharmi performs Viswavikhyathamaya mookku (The World-Renowned Nose ) at Bhubaneswar, Orissa on 12th November 2013.

Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku - .Photo Shobha Menon  (2)The performance of the play takes place as part of the National theatre festival organised by Department of Culture, Govt of Odisha, and Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi in association with Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkota and Odisha Natya Sangha. The festival is from 10th Nov to 14th Nov 2013, and the performance is at 6.30 pm at Rabindra Mandap, Bhubaneswar.

The other plays in the festival are RUDHHA SANGEET (Bengali) by Kalindi Bratyojan Kolkota written and directed by Brathya Basu, AAKASH (Hindi) by seagull Theatre Gowhati, Assam dramatised and directed by Baharul Islam based on a story by Dr.Bhupendra Nat Saikia, GODOT AAYA KYA? (Hindi) by Avartan Hyderabad, adapted designed and directed by Satyabrata Rout based on the original play written by Samuel Beckett, and Hibakusha (Hindi), by Banjara Theatre Mumbai, designed and directed by Rashi Bunny based on the play Mask of Hiroshima written by Ernest Ferlita.

Viswavikyathamaya Mookku

A foolish, illiterate young man, works as a cook in a hotel. His only ambition is to make sure he has enough snuff to inhale. Something very strange happens to him on his 24th birthday. His nose starts to grow! Day by day, it continues to grow in length until finally it reaches his navel. People from everywhere arrive to gaze upon the extra-ordinary nose! The crowds become a nuisance for the house owner, and he is forced to fire the cook from the job. The cook sits in his hut for days without money food or to buy a pinch of snuff. The crowds keep queuing near his hut, but no one helps the pathetic young man. Finally, he gets furious and asks his mother to shut the door; so the crowd bribes his mother... Money started flowing to the mother and son. Soon they became very rich.

Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku - .Photo Shobha Menon  (3)As the long nosed man becomes famous, politicians hatch conspiracies to capture him. The ruling party wins his loyalty by giving him a title and a gold medal. The president supports and honors him. Soon, the opposition party begins agitating; violence and riots follow; they say the nose is actually a pseudo nose made of rubber! The man was arrested by the police, and his nose examined by expert doctors. The nose is proven real and this causes him to be nominated as a Member of Parliament by the president! But the opposition parties counter this by forming a United Front, and continue their struggle. Basheer’s point is that the incessant controversy generated by the nose is selfishly used by competing parties for self-driven interests. Ultimately, the general populace is shown as more foolish than the poor, former cook ever was.

DIRECTORS NOTE

Rendered in a mix of Malayalam and gibberish, the production will seek to heighten the satire ingrained in the Basheerian story by way of use of masks coupled with grotesque, swift movements in the performance idiom. The play maintains that the story is perfect for bringing the curtains down on an enriching workshop on masks. It uses the story of Basheer as the premise and a group of actors with masks to unmask the absurdity of the socio-political, cultural and media hypocrisy of contemporary society. Straddling the hilarious and the absurd, the nose story throws light on mass psychology that almost borders on nonsense.

Play by Chandra and Terry ConverseIt narrates the story of an idiotic cook finding himself, sporting a growing nose one fine morning. The nose grows exceptionally large and evokes varied feelings, from revulsion in the beginning to adulation and reverence in the end. The growing nose costs the cook his job, but the controversial olfactory organ brings him fame and celebrity status.

Dramatization of Viakom Muhammad Basheer’s famous satirical short story, using mask and gibberish creates a hilarious comedy perfect for a performance project for a workshop on masks to culminate with. In this story, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer satirically exposes the psychology of the masses that runs to nonsense. The story is about a foolish cook who is only interested in having enough food to eat and inhaling snuff, but one day starts to grow an exceptionally long nose. It grows so large, in fact, that initially those who saw it were revolted by the sight. The cook was fired from his job but ultimately because of his controversial nose he became a millionaire and a certified celebrity.

The play uses masks and gibberish, supplemented with hilarious, grotesque and fast movements in the performance language. This production is without scenery, costumes, music and facial expression (as actors will all be masked); the production is challenging for the actors as a test of their ability to communicate and sustain the interest of the spectators without such tools. Devoid of scenery, costumes, music, facial expression and the use of language, this production is challenging the actor to create, communicate and sustain the interest of the audience- an experiment in itself.

Play by Chandra and Terry ConverseThe play is written by Chandradasan, based on the story by Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, and directed by Chandradasan and Terry Converse. (USA)

The artists travelling to Bhubanswar are Selvaraj, Jolly Antony, Johny Thottunkal, Anish Paul, Sujith Kollam, Shaiju T Hamza, Adithye KN, Tony Chacko Stanly, Chandran Arookkutty, Bhanuvajanen, Sanoj Somarajan,Sreenandini J Prasad, Unnimaya Edanilath, Pradeep Sreenivasan, Shanif Marakkar, Madan Kolavil, Terry Converse and Chandradasan

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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Govind Purushottam Deshpande, 1938-2013.

<Press release> Govind Purushottam Deshpande, 1938-2013. 

Eminent Marathi playwright and intellectual Govind Purushottam Deshpande died at 8.15 p.m. on 16 October 2013, following a long illness. He had a brain haemorrhage on 15 July, and lapsed into a coma. He never regained consciousness after. He died at home, peacefully. He was 75. His wife Kalindi, a leading activist of the women’s movement, died in 2009. He is survived by daughter Ashwini and son Sudhanva, granddaughter Ketaki, as well as brothers Dilip and Vikas, and sisters Aruna Sambrani and Jyoti Subhash.

Govind Deshpande, fondly known as Go.Pu. in Marathi theatre circles, was the author of several well-known plays such as Udhwastha Dharmashala, Andhar Yatra, Raste, and Satyashodhak. Many of his plays were translated and performed in several languages, besides Marathi.

Prof. Deshpande taught International Affairs with specialisation in China studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi till his retirement in 2004. He then shifted to Pune, where he lived till the end.

He was a prolific columnist and commentator, and wrote a column in the prestigious journal Economic and Political Weekly for over three decades. He edited a collection of Jotirao Phule’s writings in English translation for LeftWord Books, Selected Writings of Jotirao Phule. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and, most recently, the Tanvir Sanman. He served on several committees, including the National School of Drama Society.

His body will be kept at the Sane Guruji Smarak on Sinhagad Road from 9 to 10.30 a.m. on 17 October, and he will be cremated at 11.00 a.m. at the Vaikunth Crematorium at Navi Peth in Pune.

Eminent Marathi playwright and intellectual Govind Purushottam Deshpande died at 8.15 p.m. on 16 October 2013, following a long illness. He had a brain haemorrhage on 15 July, and lapsed into a coma. He never regained consciousness after. He died at home, peacefully. He was 75. His wife Kalindi, a leading activist of the women’s movement, died in 2009. He is survived by daughter Ashwini and son Sudhanva, granddaughter Ketaki, as well as brothers Dilip and Vikas, and sisters Aruna Sambrani and Jyoti Subhash.
Govind Deshpande, fondly known as Go.Pu. in Marathi theatre circles, was the author of several well-known plays such as Udhwastha Dharmashala, Andhar Yatra, Raste, and Satyashodhak. Many of his plays were translated and performed in several languages, besides Marathi.
Prof. Deshpande taught International Affairs with specialisation in China studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi till his retirement in 2004. He then shifted to Pune, where he lived till the end.
He was a prolific columnist and commentator, and wrote a column in the prestigious journal Economic and Political Weekly for over three decades. He edited a collection of Jotirao Phule’s writings in English translation for LeftWord Books, Selected Writings of Jotirao Phule. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and, most recently, the Tanvir Sanman. He served on several committees, including the National School of Drama Society.
His body will be kept at the Sane Guruji Smarak on Sinhagad Road from 9 to 10.30 a.m. on 17 October, and he will be cremated at 11.00 a.m. at the Vaikunth Crematorium at Navi Peth in Pune.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Lokadharmi is Looking for Own Space….

LOKADHARMI is a centre for theatre training, research and performance, established in 1991 by a collective of theatre enthusiasts in Kochi.. During its formative days it was known as Bhasabheri Nataka Sala. It was renamed as Lokadharmi in 1997. The Lokadharmi Centre for theatre which started with a membership of 25 has now expanded to a strong team of 300 members. It is registered under The Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955.

Lokadharmi is governed by a group of eminent theatre persons, artists, journalists and scholars. The Board of Directors includes Chandradasan (Artistic Director), Dr.K.G.Paulose, theatre critic and scholar, previous Vice Chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam (Chairman), Babu Methar, organizer and journalist (Vice Chairman), Madan Kolavil, actor and organizer (Secretary), V.R.Selvaraj, actor, musician, and folk artist (Treasurer), Vijayan.P.M, actor and folk artist (member), Kalamandalam Prabhakaran, Ottanthullal artist & choreographer (member), Shobha Menon, visual artist (member), and Roshan Andrews, film maker (member). Lokadharmi also has an Advisory Board consisting of eminent personalities, such as Kavalam Narayana Panikkar, (playwright, director & poet), T.M. Abraham (playwright & director), Gopan Chidambaram (director, writer & academician), Shirly Somasundaran (actor, playwright & director) and Adv. Jayaraj (folklorist).

Lokadharmi is now one of the foremost theatre companies in India. It has established its presence in the theatre scene in India with 34 productions, of which 7 were collaborative works with different theatre groups from India and abroad and 7 were children’s plays performed by Mazhavillu, the children’s theatre wing of Lokadharmi. Lokadharmi has been conducting its acting training sessions on Sundays continuously from 1991, where hundreds of actors and technicians got training. Many of the alumni of Lokadharmi have established themselves as theatre and movie actors, theatre and movie directors, academicians, theatre writers, and technicians. Many distinguished theatre directors, actors, musicians, technicians, academicians, and researchers from various parts of the world have associated with Lokadharmi in their creative pursuit, sharing their expertise with the artists of Lokadharmi. Seven of our artists have been awarded with the junior fellowships, eleven with senior scholarships and seven with CCRT scholarships by the Department of Culture, Government of India.

ACTIVITIES: Beginning with Karnabharam (1991), its maiden play, Lokadharmi has always remained in the cultural spotlight of Kochi with successive programmes such as plays, theatre workshops and seminars. Over the years, Lokadharmi has brought alive on stage as much as 40 theatre productions. ‘Draupadi’, ‘Medea’, ‘Charandas Chor’, ‘Poranadi’, ‘Lankalakshmi’, Bommanahalliyile Kinnara Yogi are just some of the other major productions from the Lokadharmi repertory. Lokadharmi group has extensively toured India with several of its productions. It has about 500 performances to its credit till date. Lokadharmi has performed in many of the important International and national theatre Festivals in different cities of India, which were received with critical and popular acclaim. Lokadharmi has performed the plays Medea (Euripides), Poranadi (the outcaste by Kavalam Narayana Panikkar), Karnabharam (The anguish of Karna, by Bhasa) and Lankalakshmi (by C.N. Sreekantan Nair) in Bharat Rang Mahotsav, the International Theatre Festival of India at New Delhi. Medea was also staged at the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama in Greece held in the cities of Pelos, Kalamatta and Athens. Lokadharmi received for ‘Karnabharam’, the coveted Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) in 2008 for Best Play, Best Costume Design and Best Stage Design. With it, Lokadharmi became the first regional language group to bag META accolades. Lokadharmi was empanelled by ICCR in 2012. Chandradasan, the artistic director received the Kerala Sangeet Natak Academy award 2004 for his overall contribution to theatre. Two other leading members of the group, Bijibal, and Roshan Andrews, have won national and state awards for music direction and film direction respectively.

Time and again Lokadharmi has taken its outreach activities to educational institutions in the state with a special stress on rural areas. It has also been conducting a weekly session on Sundays to impart theatre training to both children and adults. Lokadharmi’s theatre wing for children is known as Mazhavillu (rainbow).

As an institution focusing on theatre through its plays and related activities, Lokadharmi could bring about a dramatic change in Kochi’s perception of theatre. Lokadharmi can rightfully take credit for reviving a creative ambience for theatre activities in the city of Kochi, inspiring many to look at theatre seriously. Many well known performers have chosen Lokadharmi to be the launch pad of their creative careers.

NEW DREAM for OWN SPACE- Lokadharmi has been conducting its workshops, training sessions, rehearsals and performances at different venues like Changampuzha Park (Edappally),Govt. Sanskrit College (Tripunithura), and also in some rented spaces in and around Kochi. One major problem we have been facing is the lack of a proper, permanent space for performance and rehearsals as well as to keep and preserve theatre equipments. In fact, Kerala lacks anywhere in the state, a proper theatre space equipped with proper acoustics, lights and other technical support needed for staging plays, where continuous shows can take place throughout the year.

In this scenario, Lokadharmi dreams to set up its own space to house its activities; a permanent space that can facilitate theatre performance, research and training and also functioning as a meeting point of different performance forms, artists, connoisseurs and experts….

Our dream is to have an intimate theatre with a capacity of around 200, with a flexible performance space that can be adapted to productions in proscenium, theatre in the round, sandwich, thrust and specially designed spaces; a space which can meet the varied space designs as demanded by the new emerging experiments in theatre, facilitated with acoustics, lights, and other technologies.

We are thinking of a space within 20 kilometers from the heart of the city of Kochi, in the serenity of a village, away from the hustles of the city, but easily accessible by road. This space should be suitable for serious theatre to function and grow and at the same time easily connected with the Kochi urban-scape

THE PROPOSAL

· An intimate theatre with around 200 seats. This space should be flexible to adapt itself to performances in proscenium, sandwich, and arena, theatre in the round or any other designed spaces.

· This space should have state of the art technology, acoustics, lighting devices and controls, projection systems, air conditioning, proper green room etc that would facilitate the new needs of performances and comforts of viewing.

· A Performance library, with books, dvd and other digital material on theatre, plays and other performance forms. This will be a unique space that facilitates research and documentation.

· A bigger outdoor performance landscape than can hold spectacles and engage audience upto 1000 along with an intimate in-house theatre

· A rehearsal space, a conference area, space for performance workshop (these three can be conceived as one)

· A technical work area, (where carpentry, set making, mask, property and costume making, painting etc) can be done.

· Provision to store set, stage furniture, properties, costumes, music instruments, lighting equipment etc.

· Provision for office, box office room, administration room, technician’s room, office of the director etc.

· Guest rooms and dormitory that can house visiting artists and research scholars.

· Cafeteria and other public utility spaces; and a kitchen.

Maintenance and administration of the space will be equally important as its design and construction.

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE

We look forward to your valuable suggestions and ideas with regard to site selection, design & architecture, technical amenities, sources for financial and other resources and anything else that matters. Since this dream is so big and important for us and for the growth of theatre in and around Kochi and the state, we need collaboration, pooling of experience and expertise from all those who are concerned about theatre.

Let us join together to make this dream a reality. Please contribute in Planning, Executing, and Generating Resources.

Contact

Please email your responses and suggestions to chandradasan@gmail.com

Phone – 09447414200.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Viswavikhyathamaya mookku (The World-Renowned Nose ) on 23rd August in Town Hall Ernakulum

Viswavikhyathamaya mookku (The World-Renowned Nose ) is a play in Gibberish and Malayalam, Based on the story by Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, Directed by Chandradasan & Terry Converse Performed by Lokadharmi Kochi, Kerala.

The performance of the play takes place on 23rd August at Town Hall Ernakulum, at 7.00 pm jointly organised by C-HeD and Lokadharmi.  This is the second show of this production.

mookku photo prasanth desabhimani (3)

STORY LINE

A foolish, illiterate young man, works as a cook in a rich man's house. His only ambition is to make sure he has enough snuff to inhale. Something very strange happens to him on his 24th birthday. His nose starts to grow! Day by day, it continues to grow in length until finally it reaches his navel. People from everywhere arrive to gaze upon the extra-ordinary nose! The crowds become a nuisance for the house owner, and he is forced to fire the cook from the job. The cook sits in his hut for days without money food or to buy a pinch of snuff. The crowds keep queuing near his hut, but no one helps the pathetic young man. Finally, he gets furious and asks his mother to shut the door; so the crowd bribes his mother... Money started flowing to the mother and son. Soon they became very rich.

As the long nosed man becomes famous, politicians hatch conspiracies to capture him. The ruling party wins his loyalty by giving him a title and a gold medal. The president supports and honors him. Soon, the opposition party begins agitating; violence and riots follow; they say the nose is actually a pseudo nose made of rubber! The man was arrested by the police, and his nose examined by expert doctors. The nose is proven real and this causes him to be nominated as a Member of Parliament by the president! But the opposition parties counter this by forming a United Front, and continue their struggle. Basheer’s point is that the incessant controversy generated by the nose is selfishly used by competing parties for self-driven interests. Ultimately, the general populace is shown as more foolish than the poor, former cook ever was.

Play by Chandra and Terry Converse

DIRECTORS NOTE

Rendered in a mix of Malayalam and gibberish, the production will seek to heighten the satire ingrained in the Basheerian story by way of use of masks coupled with grotesque, swift movements in the performance idiom. The play maintains that the story is perfect for bringing the curtains down on an enriching workshop on masks. It uses the story of Basheer as the premise and a group of actors with masks to unmask the absurdity of the socio-political, cultural and media hypocrisy of contemporary society. Straddling the hilarious and the absurd, the nose story throws light on mass psychology that almost borders on nonsense.

It narrates the story of an idiotic cook finding himself, sporting a growing nose one fine morning. The nose grows exceptionally large and evokes varied feelings, from revulsion in the beginning to adulation and reverence in the end. The growing nose costs the cook his job, but the controversial olfactory organ brings him fame and celebrity status.

Dramatization of Viakom Muhammad Basheer’s famous satirical short story, using mask and gibberish creates a hilarious comedy perfect for a performance project for a workshop on masks to culminate with. In this story, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer satirically exposes the psychology of the masses that runs to nonsense. The story is about a foolish cook who is only interested in having enough food to eat and inhaling snuff, but one day starts to grow an exceptionally long nose. It grows so large, in fact, that initially those who saw it were revolted by the sight. The cook was fired from his job but ultimately because of his controversial nose he became a millionaire and a certified celebrity.

The play uses masks and gibberish, supplemented with hilarious, grotesque and fast movements in the performance language. This production is without scenery, costumes, music and facial expression (as actors will all be masked); the production is challenging for the actors as a test of their ability to communicate and sustain the interest of the spectators without such tools. Devoid of scenery, costumes, music, facial expression and the use of language, this production is challenging the actor to create, communicate and sustain the interest of the audience- an experiment in itself.

Play by Chandra and Terry Converse

The Group -LOKADHARMI

Established in October 1991, Lokadharmi was started by twenty-five theatre enthusiasts and today includes a theatre training school, a repertory, and a theatre laboratory. Some of its important productions include Draupadi by Chandradasan & Sukanya Shaji, C.N.Sreekantan Nair’s Lankalakshmi, Bhasa’s Karnnabharam, William Shakespeare’s Tempest and Macbeth, K.N.Panikkar’s Poranadi, K.Damodaran’s Pattabakki, Indira Parthasarathy’s Nandan Kadha, G.Sankara Pillai’s Abhayarthikal, Dharmaveer Bharathi’s Andha Yugam, H.S.Shivaprakash’s Madhura Kandam, Bhagavadajjuka – Mathavilasam a juxtaposition of two Sanskrit comedies by Bodhayana and Mahendra Vikrama Varman and Innalathe Mazha an environmental production. Its productions have won the National as well as International acclaim for their design, direction, and acting at various multilingual theatre festivals including Bharath Rang Mahotsav at NSD New Delhi. Lokadharmi performed Euripide’s Medea at the International festival on Ancient Greek Drama in Greece in 2001, and its Karnnabharam won awards for the best play, Scenic design, and Costume design at the META festival in 2008. Lokadharmi dreams the emergence of a village theatre culture and its characteristic energy rooted in Indian ethos and tradition and depicting contemporary Indian realities.

mookku nose (10)

Director -CHANDRADASAN

Chandradasan the founder and artistic director of Lokadharmi and Mazhavillu is a designer, director, actor writer and translator. He has directed about 35 plays in Malayalam, Lithuanian, Finnish, English, Sanskrit, Kannada and Tamil languages that include Egle and Cleopatra (A Lithuanian production done as part of Anima Mundi, the International Festival of Art at Lithuania) Draupadi (self), Medea (Euripides); Poranadi (K.N.Panicker); Karnnabharam (Bhasa); Lankalakshmi (CN Sreekantan Nair), Two mothers at the Realm of Death (A Finnish/Malayalam production co-directed with Tuire Hindika), Madhuve Hennu by H.S.Shivaprakash, and the children’s plays Oru Koottam Urumbukal (G. Sankara Pillai); Vishnu Maya (K.N.Panicker); Charandas Chor (Habib Tanvir), Bommanahalliyile Kinnara Yogi (self, based on the Kannada poem by Kuvempu); Chandrasekhara Kambar’s Aalibabavum 40 Thirudarkalum (in Tamil for NSD, RRC), among many others. He has participated in the International on Ancient Greece drama in Greece, 2001; in the international seminar on Ibsen at Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2006; and has also participated in many National and International Festivals in different parts of India including the Bharagam organized by NSD New Delhi. He has is the recipient of awards like Mahindra Excellence in Theatre award (META) for best play in 2008, and National awards for best play, Direction and Acting, from the Multi-lingual Theatre Festivals at Cuttack, Patna, Vizianagaram and Thiruvananthapuram. He also received the Kerala State Sangeetha Nataka Academy award for his contribution to theatre in 2004.

Play by Chandra and Terry Converse

Director - Dr. TERRY CONVERSE

He holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Minnesota and Ph.D. in Theatre Arts from the University of California at Los Angeles. Specializing in the teaching of directing, he is the author of Directing For The Stage: A Workshop Guide Of Creative Exercises And Projects; Dr. Converse, emeritus Professor of Theatre at Washington State University, teaches all levels of Directing, Contemporary World Theatre, and Script Analysis. Productions directed by Dr. Converse include: The Elephant Man, Tales of the Lost Formicans, Death and the King’s Horseman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, The Tempest, Dancing at Lughnasa, A Flea in Her Ear, and Equus and The Golden Age. Dr. Converse has also directed works for the Long Beach Grand Opera, the Gutherie Other Place Theatre, The Arkansas Arts Center, Cherry County Players, Peninsula Players and Theatre by the Sea. In addition to directing, Dr. Converse specializes in conducting mask characterization workshops.

CAST & CREDITS

On Stage -SELVARAJ, JOLLY ANTONY, JOHNY THOTTUNKAL, ANISH PAUL, FERHA AZEEZ, AISHWAYA M SUJITH KOLLAM, SHIJU T HAMZA, ADITHYE KN, TONY CHACKO STANLY, CHANDRAN AROOKKUTTY, BHANUVAJANAN, GOVIND NAMBIAR, SREEDEEP PS, BOBAN VIJAY & SANOJ SOMARAJAN.

Original Story –VAIKOM MUHAMMED BASHEER .Script, &Lighting –CHANDRADASAN, Stage Design – TERRY CONVERSE, Set - JOLLY ANTONY Properties-BHANUVAJANAN Music-SREEVALSAN J MENON, Music control: RAG S MADHAV, Production in charge, & Media Management: MADAN KOLAVIL, Direction – CHANDRADASAN &TERRY CONVERSE Presentation – LOKADHARMI, KOCHI, KERALA

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Friday, August 9, 2013

The stage is their world

SUNIL NALIYATH

Lokadharmi has helped generate interest in theatre.

The Hindu Lokadharmi has helped generate interest in theatre.

ORIGIN: Lokadharmi, said to be one of the oldest collective of theatre enthusiasts in Kochi, was formed in 1991. During its formative days it was known as Bhasabheri Nataka Sala. It was renamed as Lokadharmi in 1997. It is governed by a 9-member committee and is currently chaired by academician Dr. K.G. Paulose. The Lokadharmi Centre for Theatre which took off with a meagre membership of 25 has, of late, swelled to a strong team of 300 members.

ACTIVITIES: Beginning with Karnabharam(1991), its maiden play, Lokadharmi has always remained in the cultural spotlight of Kochi with successive programmes such as plays, theatre workshops and seminars. Over the years, Lokadharmi has brought alive on stage as much as 40 theatre productions. ‘Draupadi’, ‘Medea’, ‘Charandas Chor’, ‘Poranadi’ are just some of the well-known productions from the Lokadharmi repertory.

The Lokadharmi group has extensively toured India with several of its productions. It has about 500 performances to its credit. In the year 2000, Lokadharmi was invited to present its production, ‘Medea’ at a theatre festival in Greece. It has also performed at the NSD Festival in New Delhi on four different occasions. Lokadharmi is also an empanelled destination for Fulbright scholars pursuing theatre studies.

Through ‘Karnabharam’, the coveted Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) came its way in 2008 for Best Play, Best Costume Design and Best Stage Design. With it, Lokadharmi became the first regional language group to bag META accolades. “We were competing with the best talents from India and that the jury included legends like Habib Tanvir rendered a special charm to these awards,” says Prof. Chandradasan, Artistic Director of Lokadharmi.

Time and again Lokadharmi has reached out to educational institutions with a special stress on rural Kerala. It has also been conducting a weekly session on Sundays to impart theatre training to both students and adults. Lokadharmi’s regular theatre workshop for children is known as Mazhavillu. Currently, Mazhavillu is rehearsing ‘Thathamaram’ written by Chandradasan, which will be staged next month. Two more Lokadharmi productions will come alive on stage this year, one an adaption of German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’, and Draupadi  at a festival in Kolkata. Also ‘Visvavikyathamaya Mookku, will be performed shortly.

IMPACT: An institution focusing on theatre, through its plays and related activities, could bring about a dramatic change in Kochi’s perception of theatre. “Lokadharmi could perhaps be credited for creating an atmosphere for theatre activities. This has inspired many individuals to look at theatre seriously. Many have chosen Lokadharmi to be their creative launch pad,” adds Prof. Chandradasan.

GETTING IN TOUCH: To learn more about Lokadharmi performances and its related activities, call 94474 14200 (Artistic Director) or for more information, log on to www.lokadharmi.com

Courtesy .The Hindu 09 august 2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Vyangyavyakhya published

vyangyavyakhya published

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Thus spoke Lithuanian media

I HAVE BEEN TRAVELLING TO LITHUANIA THIS MONTH TO PARTICIPATE IN ANIMA MUNDI THE INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVAL 2013 AT PAKRUOJIS. I HAVE DESIGNED AND DIRECTED A PLAY ‘EGLE AND CLEOPATRA’ WITH LINA JANKAUSKAITE AS THE ACTOR. ALSO DID A WORKSHOP AND A LECTURE  ON INDIAN THEATRE AND ART.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE MEDIA RESPONSES IN THE LITHUANIAN MIDEA. (THE TRANSLATION IS FROM GOOGLE)

Pakruojyje - Spruce Serpent Queen Cleopatra and Synthesis

Ben JAN-shear WHAT
no-nas.jankauskas @ splius.lt
Throughout this weekend and two days Pakruojo estate will visit guests from distant lands, Indonesia, Iran, Georgia, Spain, Nigeria, Denmark, France, India, Argentina, the U.S. and other countries. The attendance artists will participate in the manor staged symposiums, will share experiences, present their work Pakruojis and guests. Quite a number of artists invited here for the first time in the ongoing festival of "Anima Mundi", which came the celebrated Indian filmmaker Chandradasan, will present an overview of their project and the Lithuanian actors.

India's National Award winning director Chandradasan, theater adaptation to chemical science Pakruojyje present play about Egle the Queen of Serpents, and Cleopatra. -Nerijaus Lileika photo.

The similar Fir and Cleopatra?

Festival opening Pakruojo District Council meeting artists and administrative staff talked about Pakruojis, people, problems in Lithuania.No one comes here from distant countries said that they Lithuania looks very clean country, praised the delicious food. Others marveled that cities presented a lot of sculpting.

Festival, Anima Mundi, "nail" will be June 24. presented to the director general of Indian and Lithuanian actor Chandradasan project-performance on Egle the Queen of Serpents, and Cleopatra. Cast will merge and historical time and distant space.

"Both of these women have experienced an unhappy love. One of them is married to a man of the serpent, later turned into a tree, the other died forcing it to snake bite. The two women's stories evolve contrary to each other. Cleopatra, in a very powerful woman, is a ruined love and eventually commits suicide. Its a line drawn from the top to the bottom. Spruce was originally a simple girl who, out of the events of history, evolving into a stronger woman, and finally turn into inhuman being - transformed into a tree, reaching the highest point of tension. Both women combines snake symbol - the two seem to share different stories Chandradasan.

The director himself is said to be originated from the country where the cult of snakes is very strong. "Indian culture snakes are highly respected, they have more than one god, guardian. It is well known snake Ananta, devouring its own tail. It gives meaning to infinite time, "- said the director. Performance is shown to be connected in the same director's experience in the Egyptian mythology and Lithuanian fairy tale.

Your work is always directed to convey the feelings of the highest level, through the actors' prowess. Love, anger, frustration, misery - all the feelings have to be expressed in the same purest form. Then, the viewer is also busy listening to the visible role play as an actor. Do not just pretend to be achieved heights of sense "- about his work spoke to the director, claims his wish to be known stories to re-live all other feelings.

Chemist, he found his calling in theater

Chandradasan - recognized and the National Prize winning theater director. Performances he creates his native Malayalam, Kerala (Indian state) language as well as English and Sanskrit languages. The birthplace of the founder of "Lokadharmi theater and children's theater troupe" Mazhavillu (inscribed "Rainbow"). Also, college director teaches chemistry.

"Studentaudamas until I studied chemistry, considerable time on the arts, scene, so now I have to quickly obtain the Doctor degree," - said on his call Chandradasan.

Director himself has written, read other authors. A number of productions are created in accordance with their own written plays.Traveling in foreign country gaining experience in other directors, working with local actors.

"Siauliai managed to see the play" Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. I really liked this performance. Although I did not understand a word of what the actors said, the performance was understandable. I liked the stage design, lighting, actors work. Without understanding the language is fun to see what the director wanted to show: human relations, lower and upper class population, the love between the different classes of people, "- said the director.

Symbols in the Indian scene

Director says that India developed films and performances is slightly different from the ones that are being developed in the West. We are in regular films or performances are seeing a lot of realism, the history of the play, and the Indian scene is not playing story and tells it.

"India is not enough simply to show that, say, the man loves a woman. The stage is expressed through various characters live. Express feelings invoked dance, music, natural phenomena. Much left to viewers imagination. Performances consist of the three most important things - movement, music and drama "- lists the director.

As India can not be a free demonstration of naked body on TV or on the stage, in love scenes depict invoked rain water. "This is a bit of a commercial trick to pop culture to fill. Spectators have the opportunity to see a little bit more famous actresses of the body, so the film has gained more success "- notes Chandradasan.

 

Etaplius.lt

Weekly

Hosted on the rubric (s): Pakruojis | The author: Etaples information

Indian filmmaker Pakruojo estate has created a unique performance

2013-06-28 17:49

Throughout the week Pakruojo estate held an international arts festival "ANIMA MUNDI" - (the World Soul) brought together artists from Indonesia, Iran, India, France, Spain, Denmark, Argentina, Georgia, USA and Lithuania. The exquisite festival of arts workshop, a conferencing crowned Indian filmmaker performance combines theater, art and music.

Pakruojo manor house stayed artists from four continents bring together the art festival "ANIMA MUNDI" World Soul. " Guest - Indian theater director Chandra Dasan Pakruojo mansion attic has created a unique festival closing performance. Director used his experience of many years of Indian theater tradition flattened Egypt and Lithuanian mythology - Cleopatra and the stories of firs.

"It's based entirely on the actor's emotions, when - at the highest point of the experience. Drama in this case is the ecstasy of feeling, this is what I was looking for, and desire, "- says the National Prize winning Indian film director Chandra Dasan.

Performance has become a part and four other artists from Iran, Lithuania and Indonesia - let loose their experiences through writing.

Performance director's work is important to the embodiment of the actor on a few characters, the love, hate, war, and despair, culminating.

Šiauliai actress Lina Jankauskaitė say what went through Pakruojyje not just theater, not just the text or just an emotion. This - is a mix. "

A bit of a trance, emotion, text, everything crowning gesture as if the audience was justified Festival, Anima Mundi - The World soul name.

http://etaplius.lt/indijos-rezisierius-pakruojo-dvare-sukure-unikalu-spektakli/

the above is the link to the video of the news in the TV Channel

World soul spoke four languages

In 2013. June 25.
Janina Šaparnienė

Today Pakruojo estate end of the first international art festival Anima Mundi (World Soul). After almost a week of artists from four continents showed their work led creative workshops and interacted with the participants of the plenary Pakruojis, court visitors.

Exposition Hall - all House

Pakruojo manor rooms have become exhibition halls. Vienna-based painter from Iran Elmira Shokri Pour, winning the main prize of the festival exhibition. She exhibited a colorful canvas: in some female-dominated motif, the other - traditional Persian ornaments and scenes.

Creative workshops E. Shokri Pour led amid meditative music. Participants of the plenary and the estate of visiting people had opportunity to observe artists in the creative process, within a few hours, the world will see a new picture.

Iran and studied art in Canada E. Pour Shokri said about women artists, women in Iran. This is one of its key figures and themes are written in the book.

Three artists from Indonesia and brought different genres. Pidi Baiq intertwined small canvases convey the various moods of details, in addition to traditional here to see even ... flying saucers. P. Baiq nestled among the symposium participants Pakruojis, sketching them and recorded the album.

Rudy Murdock to paintings had incorporated traditional Indonesian folk motifs, and the winner of the festival Debronzes exhibited such reasoning is full of surrealist painting and Indonesian wooden mask. After a few days his exposition of the same style of drawings.

Shobha Menon (India / USA), there were many works of Indian woman's motives.

Woman and nature motifs, and there was another festival prize-Danish sculptor Michael Sasserson works, visitors pasitinkančiuose House lobby. Metal, stone and wood connecting the artist workshop participants suggested themselves to try something hollow of soft stone.

Georgia spokesman Alex Lomadze exhibition brought painted stones painted pictures of different genres.

Colors and moods of the audience attracted to blonde Frenchwoman Soli Madsen, Spanish Noni de la Rosa works.

The only competitive exhibition participant Lithuanian - Cornelius, instead of Siauliai.

Festival initiator Šiauliai artist iron works and Saul Kruopis from Vilnius involved a non-competitive.

Cultural crossroads

Plein Air has become a crossroads of different cultures, speaking four languages ​​- Lithuanian, English, French and Russian. Opening the festival lacked translators working volunteers.

Dan M. Sasserson of stone skaptuojantis griežiantį Scandinavian fiddle "villain" troll, and legend told about it.

Teatro Lokadharmi the director of the Indian Chandradasan held a lecture on contemporary Indian theater and its history. Artist productions connects your dish performances millennium tradition and modern instruments. Their connection viewers could see the video excerpts. Festival director with other participants built theater installation, combining Hindu, Egyptian and Lithuanian cultures.

The plein-air turn on Pakruojis, art studio visits, teachers, discussed with foreign artists, listened to their advice. And they repeatedly gave a professional hand to the amateur work - pastel brush or just flick touches proposed improvement areas.

I had only to wish

The festival initiator and main organizer of Z. Vilutytė name of "Anima Mundi" not chosen by accident.Purpose of the event - to focus on the artist's place in society analysis, public relations and art.

The festival has attracted foreign interest. Some invitees from Nigeria and other countries waited until the will of bureaucratic delay of visa and joined the event is under way. The vast majority of the contest participants of the exhibition - as well as foreigners.

Organizational members of the group wondered - Do Siauliai and Vilnius live only one artist that prefers to take advantage of a unique opportunity to directly touch the other continents of culture? Artists from distant countries, did not appear hard to bring their work to the festival, and the Lithuanians could not overcome the tens or hundreds of kilometers of each other

image

Pakruojo estate - by artists from around the world

Tuesday, 25 June 2013 00:20

2013-06-22 28

Pakruojo municipality photo. Jolanta GRUBLIAUSKAITĖ

The Pakruojo mansion come together international art festival Anima Mundi participants have introduced themselves Pakruojis and event guests.

Pakruojo District. The Pakruojo mansion come together international art festival Anima Mundi participants on Wednesday the opening ceremony has already introduced himself Pakruojis and event guests.
All Pakruojo Manor Hall has become one of great exposure. Artists promised that the works will be changed frequently, so interested in the festival will never get bored.
The opening celebration began international festival organizer iron works. The artist told how the idea was born in the festival, which has had to overcome obstacles to festival participants who wished to come to Pakruojis.
Opening celebration guests also introduced himself Theatre Lokadharmi director of Chandradasan from India whose performances have created together with an international group of artists, Pakruojo estate will be on view June 24. 20 hours. After the official opening of concerts Boys Choir Dagilėlis

RS2visiems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYYJc6ik-UY

The link to the live interview in the radio RS2

First

ANIMA MUNDI FESTIVAL OPENING

Posted on Thu., 2013-06-20 10:17

The Pakruojo mansion come together international art festival ANIMA MUNDI participants on 19 June. Opening the festival has presented himself Pakruojis and event guests.

All Pakruojo Manor Hall has become one of great exposure. Artists promised that the works will be changed frequently, so interested in the festival will never get bored.

The opening celebration began international festival organizer iron works. The artist told how the idea was born in the festival, which has had to overcome obstacles to festival participants who wished to come to Pakruojis. The bureaucracy is not at all players, but over the next 2-3 days should everything go as planned.

Applause greeted all the guests open art festival participants, each of which is introduced iron works. Pakruojo District Municipality Culture and Public Relations Division Birute Vanagienė was invited to present awards to artists to give a special jury.He was awarded the Danish artist Michael Sasserson, the representative of Indonesia Debronzes, and the first prize was awarded Iranian artist Elmira Shokri Pour, whose works dominated by a woman theme.

Opening celebration guests also introduced himself Theatre Lokadharmi director of Chandradasan from India whose performances have created together with an international group of artists, Pakruojo estate will be available to view on 24 June. 20 hours.

After the official opening of concerts Boys Choir Dagilėlis (conductor Remigijus Adomaitis).

We invite you to the international art festival ANIMA MUNDI events!

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