Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku @ Gramoslsavam kaniyankunnu, Aluva.

As part of Gramolsavam (village Fest)  organised by AIYF and SYC, Lokadharmi performed the play Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku (the world Renoned nose) at kaniyankunnu, Aluva on 9th of May. Till the late eighties there were a lot of cultural activities and performances in villages all around Kerala.   The social and political organisations backed out from culture and theatre activities by the nineties when the new market ideology started ruling the social fabric of Kerala.  It is so happy to see that the local AIYF took initiative to have a 10 day  festival that included cultural activities, various kinds of performances,  sports events for the local people, and lectures and discussions on important social issues. it is with immense happiness that Lokadharmi performed our play Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku in that fest, amidst lack of proper facilities to stage a play. But the shows in such rustic rural atmosphere always pay the much needed impetus to theatre and as usual we found that the village audience is simply superb as usual

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.

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 honours 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.

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.

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

This was the 5th show of this play.

The artists performing  are Selvaraj, Jolly Antony, Johny Thottunkal, Anish Paul, Sujith Kollam, Shaiju T Hamza, Adithye KN, Tony Chacko Stanly, Bhanuvajanen, Sanoj Somarajan,Sreenandini J Prasad, Unnimaya Edanilath, Pradeep Sreenivasan, Shanif Marakkar, Madan Kolavil, and Sreedeep

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.

"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.

Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku at Odisha National Theatre Festival Bhubaneswar

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

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 10^th Nov to 14^th 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.

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.

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.

The 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The foreign Connection

 Parvathy Nambidi

Terry Converse (Pic: Mithun Vinod)

Knowledge transfer and learning have no limits. This has been proved by academicians who have entered the country to teach Indians. Students are not only exposed to different styles of teaching, but get a global perspective. Edex spoke to the expat professor who is gung-ho about the Indian assignments

Terry Converse

Terry Converse, Emeritus professor of Theatre at Washington State University, USA, has been quietly imparting the nuances of contemporary world theatre to dramatists in Kerala. Converse, who came to Kerala in July to research on ‘Innovative mask characterisation exercises in plays’, is collaborating with Kochi-based Lokadharmi theatre group.

He describes his stint with the state as an ‘overwhelming experience’. “The actors are more naturally inclined here. With their rigorous movements, they can exert more physical force than the American actors, who stick to Kitchen Sink Dramas, which are more stylised,” he says.

Along with Chandradasan, artistic director of Lokadharmi, Converse is directing two plays — The World Renowned Nose (It is based on a short story of the same name by Malayalam writer Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer) and The Elephant Man (an adaptation of the famous play of John Merrick about a disfigured man).

Converse plans to use masquerading and gibberish language as major acting tools in these. “Acting with mask helps actors sustain their stylistic imagination because it enables them to shed away their original identity. It is a device with immense possibilities, which the actors in Kerala are yet to familiarise themselves with,” he says.

Converse, who read for his PhD in Theater Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles, feels Keralites genuinely appreciate art. “Watching plays is a high-price affair in the US and is usually enjoyed by the elite class. In Kerala, I got a chance to see a few excellent plays. More than the plays, it was the excitement of the audience, which comprises people from all walks of society that interested me. Here even common people have the aesthetic sensibility to understand art. The root cause of theatre is to bring together people of all class, which is happening here,” says Converse.

Converse graduated in MFA-direction from the University of Minnesota, USA, and has written several books on theatre.

The 66-year-old has produced notable plays like Tale of the Lost Formicans, Death and the King’s Horseman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and Dancing At Lugnasa.

Courtesy Indian Express 05th November 2012

Much ado about a growing nose

by SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Theatre of the absurd:Artistes of Lokadharmi rehearsing a theatre adaptation of ‘Viswavikhyathamaya Mooku’ on Tuesday. —Photo: H. Vibhu

Satire is taking the centre stage yet again with Lokadharmi Centre for Theatre Training, Research and Performance presenting a contemporary theatre adaptation of Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s satirical story,Viswavikhyathamaya Mookku (The World-Renowned Nose).

The story — jointly dramatised and directed by Professor of Theatre in the Washington State University School of Music and Theatre Arts Terry Converse and Lokadharmi director Prof. Chandradasan — will be staged at Changampuzha Park in Edapally at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday as the culminating production of a ‘Mask Workshop’ organised by Lokadharmi.

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 makers of the play maintain that the story is perfect for bringing the curtains down on an enriching workshop on masks.

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.

The Lokadharmi 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 instruments.

Hence, the production is an experiment in itself, say its makers. V.R. Selvaraj will appear as the ‘Mookan’ (the cook, the protagonist) in the production.

K.J. Sohan, chairman of the Corporation Standing Committee on Town planning, and poet S. Ramesan will be the chief guests for the staging.

Courtesy The Hindu 30 October 2012

The Revealing mask

Parvathi Nambidi

A group of men in mask, nudge a stout man, ridiculing him with gibberish. They pull his nose, and roars of laughter in an unknown language reverberates through the hall. The scene is the rehearsal camp of the play, ‘The World Renowned Nose’ adapted from the well known short story of the same name by Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer.

The play, to be staged by Lokadharmi Theatre Group, on October 30 at Changanpuzha Park is unique in many ways. It is being staged as part of the ongoing mask workshop conducted by Terry John Converse, Professor of Theatre at Washington University. Plays using masks is a rarity in our theatre scene. And moreover the play will be staged as a prologue to the production of the world famous play, ‘The Elephant Man’ that will be staged by Lokadharmi next year.

‘The Elephant Man’ by Bernard Pomnerance is a haunting tale about the plight of a Victorian man named John Merrick with a monstrous disfigurement. From a desperate misfit, the man gets elevated to a celebrated status, thanks to the same deformity he has.

And ‘The World Renowned Nose’ is about a naive cook whole sole aim in life is to have enough food to eat and to be able to inhale snuff. But one fine morning his nose starts to grow exceptionally. Though initially people were revolted by the sight, he later became a celebrity, because of his remarkable nose.

About why they chose ‘The World Renowned Nose’, Chandradasan, the director of Lokadharmi Theatre explains, “The mask workshop by Lokadharmi has more than 20 artists. ‘The Elephant Man’ does not require that many actors, so we thought about a play that can enable all the actors to have an acting practise and that thought lead to the Basheerian story.

“We thought about a story that could connect with ‘The Elephant Man’. First we thought about the tale of Ganapathi. Then Ganapathi’s nose is a natural protrusion, not something unusual. Then the satirical story of the cook of Basheer came to our mind. There is a strong connection between the two plays. For one thing both of them deal with the psyche of the life of two outcasts, caused by their physical deformities. Both deals with how they deal with the fame, when they become celebrities in an overnight,” explains Chandradasan.

In the play, the characters wear masks and speak gibberish. Chandradasan says, “Basheer is a person who has coined several new words that has no meaning in itself. That is one reason why we chose gibberish.”

Dr Terry says he is charmed by both the beauty of the Malayalam short story as well as the talent of the artists of Lokadharmi.

About the use of mask in the play, he says, “Mask has immense possibilities. Acting with mask is much more challenging than the usual acting. Since there is no expression, the artist has to rely completely on the body language, which itself makes it all the more challenging.”

The artists of the Lokadharmi says all this is a new experience to them. “Using mask increases the relation between the artist and the space,” says Charu Narayanan and Joly Antony.

Another actor Selvaraj says, “While wearing a mask, we leave our original face behind and have another face.”

In the Moonlight of Love – Soorya Krishnamurthy adapts Premalekhanam (Love letter) by Basheer

Love is a sweet and dreamy experience, quite unique and pure… it transcends human beings into a realm of lighter existence, into the bliss of being among hardships.
When Vaikom Muhammad Basheer writes about love it becomes all the more sweeter and transparent – as sweet as a ‘candy from the skies’. The human experience revolves around the whole scaffold of dreamy nuances of human bondage and at the same time is rooted to the ground reality, the conflicts of being in the ruthless and loveless society with all contradictions. Love becomes a cold stream of moonlight into which his characters can take a dip to forget the hardships and struggles ordeals and survive. He is the Sultan of narration, and the real legendary writer who has created his own language and constructions, an alternate narrative language itself whenever the words fail to express the nuances of relationships and experiences.

Premalekhanam (love letter) written in 1943 is adapted into a play by Soorya Krishnamurthy, into a simple and telling narrative form that makes us soaked into the moonlight of love. Recently many of the stories by Basheer have been adapted to stage by many theatre persons and all were appealing in theatre. There is some magic in the writing of basher that makes the adaptation into a success. This may be because the works of the Sultan of Stories are truthful, clear and unique exposé of human situation. It is neither the craft nor the technique of writing that makes it unique, but the truthful earthy human experience, the link with contemporary concern, and the clarity of vision and expression. Thus it is immaterial whether is expressed as fiction, drama or film in which the expression takes place.

This production also was a soothing experience and at the same make as reflects about the society in which we live in and our own limitations. It makes as dream about the moonlight of pure love that transcends all walls and bondages, the bondages of caste and religion in one level and bondages and limitations of our own existence and self to merge into the transparency of unconditional love.

The director and his crew have taken a simple and transparent design for the play quite true to Basheer and his writing. It was performed in an arena where the audience was sitting on all four sides of the square in which two characters Kesavan Nair and Saramma (enacted skillfully by the couple Amalraj and Lakshmi) were trying to play their mutual love. Kesavan Nair a bank employee (the play is hosted by the Bank Employees Arts Movement in Kochi) and his infinite love to the unemployed Saramma, the daughter of his tenant and her negation of his letters of love and expressions is used not just to engage the audience and marvel them, but also to reflect the conflicts of the present day. The whole interaction seems a gibe or a game of love in which direct expression is negated by the ploy of Saramma, who always postpones saying “tell you tomorrow”. And hence we have to wait till the last minutes of the play where the two lovers really express their love and unite.

The play depended not on any techniques or technology, other than the skill of acting from the cast. The design and approach of the director is quite refreshing in an atmosphere of overt technical gimmicks and overindulgence in gadgets used in contemporary theatre. Krishnamurthy in his previous production Melvilasam (Address) also has avoided any technological usages and depended on his actors and the human emotions of the dramatic situation to create his theatre. It is to be remembered that technique is not alien to him and he was doing a lot of ‘light and sound shows’ of massive formats quite efficiently. But when it came to theatre he left the craft beside, and is working on the basics of human experience and theatre itself.

The set was simple, with minimum essential properties, and minimal use of music and sound. The play started with Basheer’s favorite song ‘Soja Rajakumari…’ that set the atmosphere for the play to take place. The other sound used was the sound of a train to mark the different scenes which finally suggested the train in which the two characters leave for a voyage seeking a new life to a distant place. The light was to make the action visible and to mark the scene changes, and the use of a blue light to represent the night and also the moonlight of love that always is there in the hearts of the lovers became proficient. The blue light was there when the Saramma finally opened her heart to Kesavan Nair and the pair has really expressed their mutual love.

And the thrust of the narration that the director emphasized was on the religious diversity of the two lovers. The possibility of a life together between Saramma who is a Christian and Kesavan Nair who is a Hindu and how the couple is going to name their child was the chore of the play. This story that was written in the 1940’s and the resolution that they will grow the child without any religion, and name him as ‘Aakasa-Mittai’ (the candy from the skies) felt more relevant today, where the atmosphere outside is echoing the nonsense of screams, protests and bloodshed about a lesson in the curriculum of the primary school. While watching this production I was taken into the mystic and cooling experience of the moonlight of love; and at the same time was also made to ponder about the viciousness of our society that is retreating in its deliberations, deteriorating sense of humanism, conservative orthodoxy enslaving the progressive liberalism more ferocious and fierce than in the darker ages of history.