A little break from the set pattern or an unexpected turn that takes everyone by surprise can be a thing of joy in a game marked by sedate movements. On Friday, the packed crowd at the drama competition for the higher secondary category as part of the 62nd State School Arts Festival, savoured a few such creative bursts which elevated the competition to another level.
Half way through the competition that had 23 teams, it was the troupe from the Government HSS, Kokkallur, Kozhikode, with a performance of playwright Emil Madhavi’s Sahitya Akademi Award winning play Kumaru who was unmistakably ahead of the rest of the competitors. It takes off on a simple premise of society forcing a thief’s son to become a thief and him pining for his lost love. But, in half an hour, the play transforms into a completely different beast, with inventive use of stage properties, including a well filled with water to the brim into which the thief jumps.
Sweat and toil
In their highly coordinated stage act, months of preparation was evident, with the lead actor putting up a stupendous performance. Concerns about erasure and rewriting of history, and references to the mowing down of farmers during the recent protests and the demolition of Babri Masjid are weaved into the play. Erasure of history appeared as the subtext in a couple of other plays too, especially the one on Wayanad’s tribal chieftain Karinthandan, who was believed to have been murdered by the East India Company after using his knowledge to lay a road across the mountain pass.
Strong ending
Issue-based plays were galore, but in quite a few of them, the issue appeared to take precedence over the craft or even an engaging narrative or a spellbinding stage act. But, a few of them stood out with their novel approach, especially a play from Ernakulam district which weaved in the mythical story of philosopher Gargi who questioned the respected sages of her time and ruffled quite a few feathers, with the story of a contemporary theatre actor facing oppression at her husband’s home for her career choices. It ended on a soaring note with the strong voice of contempt of the younger generation against all the strictures of the old guard, from menstrual impurity to attire.
The tears of the mothers who lost their children in Israel’s bombing of Gaza also became the subject of a play.
Quite a few well-known personalities from Kerala’s theatre sphere were in attendance, with some of them scouting for new talents and catching up with the changing trends. Surely, they had a lot to take back home.
