Cries of Primordial forms return….Soorppanakha a solo by Pradeep Chittoor

 

The premiere show of Soorppanakha a solo play enacted by Pradeep Chittoor, scripted and directed by Ullas Mavilayi will take place at 6.30 pm at Changampuzha Park Edappally on 17th September 2009. This play is developed from the short story Thaikulam written by Sara Joseph.

In the story Thaikulam Sara Joseph tries to find the meta-mindset of Soorppanakha within all feminine premises by her extra sense. It tells the story of pain on loosing the organic roots mankind. In the new theatrical improvisation, new stories of de-rooting from Chengara, and Muthanga is narrated in the same passion as rootless men. in a way it is a kind of reinterpretation of some primeval characters from myth and reality linked together.  Stage and screen technology is used to depict the past and the present. The play explores the backdrop of Kurathi, by late Kadamminitta Ramakrishnan one among the strong poetic interpretation of femininity.

Sara Joseph will participate in the inaugural function and she will speak on ‘the contemporary  re-reading of Epics’

Pradeep Chittoor is actively working in Lokadharmi for the last 11 years as an actor, set designer and make-up artist. He has acted in the plays Karnnabharam, Poranadi, Medea,  Paattabakki (all directed by Chandradasan), Innalathe Mazha (dir.Ullas Mavilayi) and Chayamukhi (dir; Prasanth Narayanan). He won the National scholarship for advanced training in acting from the department of culture, Government of India in 1995.

Ullas Mavilayi who scripted and directs this play hails from Kannoor district and is a theatre graduate from School of Drama, Trichur. he has worked with eminent directors like Abhilash Pillai, Radha Karman etc and visited Japan. his directorial ventures include Soothakodeeram, Othello, Dharmakshethre Kurukshethre, Innalathe Mazha etc. He has also acted and assisted in direction of the Tamil film ‘In the name of Buddha’.

The music of the play is by Ajan, art by Premkumar Kottakkal, Set & property by Bhanuvajanan, Light by Harikrishnan S, Costumes by Seema Santhosh, sound control by Prasanth Madhav, and production by Charu Narayanan. The play is presented by Lokadharmi with the assistance from Changampuzha Samskarika Kendram.

Directors Note A new twist in the South Indian dramatic plot adds an enigmatic layer of visualization to make the theatrical expression a social interaction. Perhaps it can look strange when viewed through the dark glasses of the protagonist of this play, Soorppanakha, who is the martyr of a strange legal morality that made the soil and women wounded for ever. She comes back to the senses of men from ancient fairy tales. the nature stands on one side as it lost its motherhood, and on the other side the silent elegy of men who are displaced from their soil begin. Over the terrific defeat of ideologies, only some names are left, Muthanga, Chengara, Moolampilly, as the undeniable social metaphors. Those cries return to the world of long forgotten primordial forms. And the ‘Ramayana’ repeats again…