Thathamaram at Navarang National Childrens Theatre Fest, palakkadu

The 3^rd edition of national children’s theatre fest by Navarang Palakkad in association with ministry of culture Govt of India is from 16^th of September 2014 to 19^th of September 2014 at Town hall Palakkad. The festival showcases 8 plays from Kerala, Karnataka, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Assam. The fest is inaugurated by MB Rajesh and the inaugural play is Thathamaram performed by Mazhavillu, Kochi.

The schedule of the fest is

1. Thathamaram (parrot tree) - Malayalam -performed by Mazhavillu, Kochi. Dir. Chandradasan @6.00 pm on 16^th sept.

2. Beraki Piraki Raja - Kannada-performed by Koshika, Uduppi. Dir. Apoorva Anagalli-@ 7.30 pm on 16^th sept.

3. Dalchuut – Hindi -performed by Eso Nataka Shikki Kolkota. Dir. Tapas Das @6.00 pm on 17^th sept.

4. Adventures of Chinnari – Telungu-performed by Theatre Outreach unit Hyderabad Dir.John Basheer @7.00 pm on 17^th sept.

5. Mari - Malayalam -performed by Navarang Palakkad. Dir. Firoze @6.00 pm on 18^th sept.

6. Team work - Assamese -performed by North East Theatre Academy, Assam. Dir.Simanta Phukan @7.30 pm on 16^th sept.

7. Chandanakkattilum Kuttiolum - Malayalam -performed by Rangachethana Trichur. Dir. KV Ganesh@ 6.00 pm on 19^th sept.

8. Totochan- Malayalam -performed by Pukade Kalalayam Kozhikode. Dir.Manoj Narayanan @7.00 pm on 19^th sept.

Thathamaram (The Parrot- Tree)

Thathamaram is written, designed, choreographed and directed by Chandradasan, with Bijibal M doing the music, Set & Properties by Bhanuvajanan, Costumes by Rema K Nair, Lighting design by Srikanth, Art by Shobha Menon, Live music by Kishore NK, Subrahmanian, and Niranj Madan, Sound by Jebin Jesmes, Direction Assistance by Shaiju T Hamza, and Media Management by Madan Kolavil.

This is the Third performance of the play

This play is developed from a folk tale which is extrapolated to throw light into contemporary reality. The story is about a parrot tree which is mysterious in many ways; it speaks in unknown languages, whispers and cries, and has flowers with an incandescent smell that penetrates deep into the human cell. The tree says “I am a tree, am a bird, am the smell, and am the sweetness. Dreams of this native land are buried deep beneath me.” This tree epitomizes the archaic myths about a tree that grows in the far deep forest with its fruits used as medicine that cures all sorts of illnesses. It has a rhythm that ticks the natural cycles to vibrate and resonate mutually and keeps the life moving ahead. This tree is visible only to the wisdom of birds.

Once, the King of the land is infected with a mysterious illness, and somnambulism. As he dwells deep into sleep, malicious, evil and vicious spirits and creatures that were buried for ages underneath the earth are reborn and resurrected. They craw into the dreams of all and one and disturb the balance of life processes. Everyone else including the princess loses sleep… “The evil species danced around in ecstasy; hunger and famine spread all over. New diseases sprang up. Untimely downpour of heavy rain and incessant storm; holes appear in the sky…Earth gets sunburns … Seasons looses their rhythms; all calculations go off the track…Rainwater tastes bitter… Severe summer of tragedies…

Princess could not sleep… The evil creatures danced around the princess day and night… she could not close her eyes for a moment… Suddenly, song of a little parrot that flew from the forest soothes the princess… The evil species cannot stand the bird’s song and they fly away from it. After a few days the parrot returned to the forest to visit her parents. Little parrot told her parents about the misery in the palace in her absence. To put an end to the wretchedness in the kingdom, the wise father parrot went deep into the forest and brought the mysterious mythical fruit that can heal any illness, sacrificing his life in this act. The little parrot has to gift this fruit to the King and on eating this; the trauma that had filled him and the nation will be cured.

On its way back to the castle with the fruit, the little parrot gets tired and dozes off for a while on a leafless tree. The evil species residing on the same tree spits venom and poison into the fruit. Then they rush to the palace and inform the king that the parrot is coming with a poisonous fruit to kill the king. The king in turn asks the little parrot to taste the fruit first, before he eats it. The parrot tastes it and dies. On the King’s orders, the dead parrot and the poisonous fruit are buried in a distant desert.

After a gap of many years, it rained continuously for three days in the desert, and then the parrot tree sprouted. It grew into a Tall Tree with enchanting flowers and fruits; but the people shy away as they are afraid of the poison...

Finally an old couple depressed by loneliness and many diseases, arrives there, they decide to end their lives by eating the fruit of the tree. But to the dismay of everyone, the fruit did not kill them, but they were rejuvenated and freed from their agonies.

The play connects the experiences of the present day as well as of the past with the myths, hearsay, folklore, tradition, legends, cultures and the flora and fauna of Kerala. It reinforces the rhythmic continuity of human life with trees, birds, and other living and non-living entities. The story creates a world which flows between real, surreal and mythical; all fused together to form a plasma of magical, dream like fantasy. The story is narrated direct and simple in a transparent, poetic and candid style to create a cosmos of exuberance, earthiness, and fantasy, where various elements co-exist, mutually complementing and completing.

The performance uses music, songs, movement and choreography accentuated by the use of simple properties and a narration with simultaneous enactment and characterization. Use of imaginative sets, properties and music suggests the space, characters, time, as well as the cultural/ political implications of the play. The performance language is designed so as to give space for creativity and expression of the histrionic talent of the children, the whole process of rehearsal providing an exhilarating experience to the little actors; the scheme of rehearsal and play making being equally important as the final product.

The Artists Traveling To Perform are Gowri Murali , Gouri Krishna A , Jeyasuriyaa M.A , (Anju Joan ), Malavika Murali , Krishna Radhakrishnan, Rose Sherin Ansary , Arun A , Hemanth Menon , Unnimaya Edanilath , Jayabhami Jayachandran , Ashin Xavier , Ramakrishnan Lokanathan , Chelcy Johny , Unnimadhav Edanilath , Yedhukrishna K.V , Niranjana Kishan , Saswath Gopan, Bhanuvajanan , Kishore Nk , Subrahmanian, Niranj Madan, Jebin Jesmes, Shaiju T Hamza, Jolly Antony, Rema K Nair, Anu Gopinath and Chandradasan.