വേറിട്ട നാടകവഴികള്‍ -കെ.ശ്രീകുമാര്‍

നാടകത്തിന്റെ പറഞ്ഞുവെച്ച ചരിത്രവഴികള്‍ക്ക് ഒരു തിരുത്തും അനുബന്ധവും. നേരും നുണയും വേര്‍തിരിച്ച്, അര്‍ഹരെ അസ്ഥാനങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്നും സ്ഥാനങ്ങളിലേക്ക് മാറ്റി പ്രതിഷ്ഠിച്ച് മലയാളത്തില്‍ ഇന്നോളം കാണാത്ത ഒരു ചരിത്ര നിര്‍മാണം. അരങ്ങിലും അണിയറയിലും പെണ്ണിന്റെ കരുത്തും പ്രസക്തിയും എത്രത്തോളമെന്ന് കേട്ടല്ല, അനുഭവിച്ചറിഞ്ഞ, നാടകത്തെ ജീവിതമായി കാണുന്ന നാടക പ്രവര്‍ത്തകയുടെ ഹൃദയമിടിപ്പുകള്‍ വ്യക്തമായി കേള്‍ക്കാനാവുന്ന ഒരു സംരംഭം. ഇതിലപ്പുറം പോകേണ്ടതില്ല ഈ പുസ്തകം അനുഷ്ഠിക്കുന്ന മഹത്ത്വമന്വേഷിച്ച്.

മലയാള നാടകത്തിന്റെ വരണ്ട ചരിത്രമോ നാടകത്തിലെ സ്ത്രീകള്‍ക്കായി ഒരു വക്കാലത്തോ അല്ല സജിത മഠത്തിലിന്റെ ലക്ഷ്യം. എന്തുകൊണ്ട് നടപ്പുനാടക ചരിത്രങ്ങളില്‍ സ്ത്രീയില്ല? നടിയില്‍ നിന്ന് നാടക പ്രവര്‍ത്തകയിലേക്ക് വളര്‍ന്നു കഴിഞ്ഞ അവളെ ആ രീതിയില്‍ അംഗീകരിക്കാന്‍ എന്തുകൊണ്ട് ചരിത്രമെഴുത്തുകാര്‍ തയ്യാറാവുന്നില്ല? അരങ്ങിലെ സ്ത്രീയെ കണ്ടെന്നു നടിച്ചവര്‍പോലും ക്ഷമയര്‍ഹിക്കാത്ത അലസത അവരോട് കാട്ടുന്നതെന്തേ? 'മലയാള നാടക സ്ത്രീ ചരിത്രം' ഉദയം ചെയ്തത് ഈവിധ സന്ദേഹങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്നാണെന്ന് സജിത.

ഒമ്പത് അധ്യായങ്ങളില്‍ ഇരുനൂറിലേറെ പുറങ്ങളിലായി ഇതള്‍ വിരിയുന്നു സജിതയുടെ ശ്രദ്ധാപൂര്‍വമുള്ള നിരീക്ഷണങ്ങള്‍. സെബാസ്റ്റ്യന്‍ കുഞ്ഞുകുഞ്ഞു ഭാഗവതരുടെ ആത്മകഥയില്‍ നിന്ന് മലയാള നാടകത്തില്‍ സ്ത്രീയുണ്ടായിരുന്നുവെന്ന തിരിച്ചറിവ്, നിരന്തരമായ അന്വേഷണങ്ങള്‍, ആയിരത്തിലേറെ നാടക പ്രവര്‍ത്തകരായ സ്ത്രീകളോട് സംസാരിച്ചുള്ള അനുഭവം. സ്ത്രീപക്ഷത്തുനിന്ന് ആരോഗ്യകരമായ നോക്കിക്കാണല്‍- പുസ്തകം പൂര്‍ത്തിയായപ്പോള്‍ അത് സമര്‍പ്പിച്ചതും നാടകപാതയിലെ മുന്‍ഗാമികള്‍ക്ക്. ''അരങ്ങിനെ വിശ്വാസമാക്കിയ വര്‍ക്കല അമ്മുക്കുട്ടിയുടെയും അനാര്‍ക്കലിയായി മണ്ണിലലിഞ്ഞ പള്ളുരുത്തി ലക്ഷ്മിയുടെയും തുടര്‍ച്ചക്കാരികള്‍ക്ക്''- സമര്‍പ്പണം ഇങ്ങനെ. ആരാണ് വര്‍ക്കല അമ്മുക്കുട്ടിയും പള്ളുരുത്തി ലക്ഷ്മിയും? സജിതയുടെ ഈ പുസ്തകം എന്തിനെന്ന് നെറ്റിചുളിക്കുന്നവര്‍ക്ക് ചോദ്യത്തിന് മുന്നിലെ അജ്ഞത സ്വയം ഉത്തരമാവുന്നു.

മലയാള നാടകത്തിന് ചരിത്രമുണ്ടാവുന്നതിന്റെ പിറ്റേവര്‍ഷം തോട്ടക്കാട്ട് ഇക്കാവമ്മ, കുഞ്ഞിക്കുട്ടി തങ്കച്ചി എന്നീ പ്രതിഭാശാലികളായ സ്ത്രീകള്‍ യഥാക്രമം 'സുഭദ്രാര്‍ജുന'മെന്നും 'അജ്ഞാതവാസ'മെന്നും പേരായ നാടകമെഴുതിയെന്ന് ഏതു ചരിത്രത്തിലാണുള്ളത്? സ്ത്രീയെ തോല്പിക്കുന്ന സൗന്ദര്യത്തോടെ അരങ്ങില്‍ സ്ത്രീയായി വാണ ഓച്ചിറ ശിവപ്രസാദ് വേലുക്കുട്ടിയെ സജിത നോക്കിക്കാണുന്നത് ഒളിഞ്ഞുനോട്ടവും അശ്ലീലഭാഷണവുമടക്കം ഒരു നടി നേരിടുന്ന എല്ലാ തിരസ്‌കാരങ്ങളുടെയും പ്രതിനിധിയായാണ്. ആ ശൈലി അനുകരിക്കുമ്പോഴും സ്വന്തം ഇടം കണ്ടെത്തി മാവേലിക്കര പൊന്നമ്മയെപ്പോലുള്ള പിന്‍ഗാമികള്‍.

സ്ത്രീവാദത്തിന്റെ കരുത്ത് തെളിഞ്ഞു നിന്ന മുപ്പതുകള്‍ നല്ല നാടകങ്ങള്‍ രചിക്കാന്‍ നാടക കൃത്തുക്കളെ പ്രേരിപ്പിച്ച സ്ത്രീകളാല്‍ സമൃദ്ധമെന്ന് ഗ്രന്ഥകാരി. 'സ്ത്രീ'യും 'യാചകി'യും 'സുപ്രഭ'യും ഉണ്ടാവുന്നത് അങ്ങനെയാണ്. ഒരു തലമുറയെ ആഴത്തില്‍ സ്വാധീനിച്ചിട്ടും മേല്‍വിലാസമില്ലാതെ പോയ ഒരുകൂട്ടം നടികളെ സംഗീത നാടക മേഖലയെ അപഗ്രഥിച്ച് ഗ്രന്ഥകാരി വെള്ളിവെളിച്ചത്തിലേക്ക് കൊണ്ടുവരുന്നതും സ്വാഗതാര്‍ഹമാണ്. നമ്പൂതിരി നവോത്ഥാന ശ്രമങ്ങളുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ടുണ്ടായ നാടകങ്ങളില്‍ ലളിതാംബിക അന്തര്‍ജനമടക്കമുള്ളവര്‍ മുന്നോട്ടുവെച്ചപരിചിതമായ അജന്‍ഡയെന്തെന്നാണ് തുടര്‍ന്നു പരിശോധിക്കുന്നത്. എന്നാല്‍, രാഷ്ട്രീയ നാടകങ്ങളുടെ കുത്തൊഴുക്കില്‍ സ്ത്രീ പ്രധാനിയല്ലാതെ പ്രണയത്തിന്റെ ലോല ഭാവങ്ങളിലേക്കൊതുങ്ങുന്നു. അതിനിടയിലും കെ.പി.എ.സി. സുലോചനയെയോ, മേദിനിയെയോ, നിലമ്പൂര്‍ അയിഷയെയോ പോലെ പ്രതിസന്ധികളിലൂടെയും ആത്മഹര്‍ഷങ്ങളിലൂടെയും പിടിച്ചു നിന്നവരെയും സജിത കാണാതെ പോകുന്നില്ല. അതിന്റെ അനുബന്ധം തന്നെ ഇരുനൂറിലേറെ നടികളെ നേരില്‍ക്കണ്ട് എത്തിച്ചേരുന്ന നൂതന നിരീക്ഷണങ്ങളും.

സ്ത്രീയെ നാടകഭാഷയും നാടക സങ്കേതങ്ങളും പഠിപ്പിച്ച നാടകക്കളരി പ്രസ്ഥാനത്തെയും കാവാലത്തിന്റെ നാടക മുന്നേറ്റത്തെയും സജിത ആദരവോടെയും അതേസമയം നിഷ്പക്ഷമായും നോക്കിക്കാണുകയാണ്. പ്രതികരണ നാടകവേദി, കാമ്പസ് തിയേറ്റര്‍, സമത, പരിഷത്ത്, 1991-ലെ കൂത്താട്ടുകുളം നാടക ക്യാമ്പിനെ തുടര്‍ന്ന് സജീവമായ സ്ത്രീനാടകവേദി എന്നിങ്ങനെ വര്‍ത്തമാനകാല അരങ്ങില്‍ വരെയെത്തുന്നു ഈ അന്വേഷണം.

''ഇതൊരു തുടക്കം മാത്രം. യോജിക്കാനും വിയോജിക്കാനും സംവദിക്കാനും തുടരന്വേഷണത്തിനും വഴിയൊരുക്കുന്ന എളിയ തുടക്കം'' -സജിത സ്വന്തം പുസ്തകത്തെ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്ഇങ്ങനെ

Breaking the silence on women stage artists-Reema Narendran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Where did all the women stage artists of over a century disappear, was a question that haunted theatre artist Sajitha Madathil. She meandered through the labyrinths of written and unwritten Malayalam theatre history, upturned every possible ‘milestone’ looking for little clues that may help her get a bigger picture of the theatre movement, especially the women’s role in it. The outcome has been an extensive book, ‘Malayalanatakasthricharithram’ being published by Mathrubhoomi.


‘‘Theatre is my passion and I always loved history. Together with this was the absolute eerie silence on women in Malayalam theatre history. Quite naturally this disturbed me and I knew I had to find the truth,’’ said Sajitha, deputy director (programmes), Chalachitra Academy.

And in her quest, Sajitha did not forget the professional theatres and the large chunk of women who were part of it. ‘‘Just as popular cinema was little discussed in academic circles, theatre history was not serious about commercial theatres. I consider women in commercial theatre as a strong part of my history and I felt that without narrating their experiences, the story would be incomplete,’’ she said.

Note that Sajitha used the words ‘my history’. You could almost feel in her the excitement as anyone tracking their roots would exude. The bits of information that Sajitha gathered over many years helped her put the quaint pieces of the puzzle together.

The pictures that eventually took shape led her to reason that the non-visibility of the women artists was mostly because of a careless or twisted narration of history, by a male-dominated society and at a time when women had no right to public space.

‘‘You won’t believe the kind of mistakes that’s doing the rounds on theatre history. In many books, the first contribution by a woman to theatre is said to be Thottakatt Madhaviamma’s ‘Subadradhananjayam’, but what they are actually talking about is Thottakkatt Ikkavamma’s ‘Subradarjunam’,’’ pointed out Sajitha, who felt that there was an urgent need to have a relook at the total history.

She started from the 1880s, placing the theatre movement and women’s role against the social backdrop of women’s identity in the society, level of education, costumes, utilisation of public space and so on. The book also takes a comprehensive look at the construction of women characters in political dramas, ‘Ningalenne Communistakki’ for example, that played a major role in the Communist movement, and the actual life of the women who portrayed these roles.

Sajitha, who loves to chat with women from the theatre world, discovered to her horror that there were times when women who took to stage were hunted out, both on the stage as well as backstage.

Many women artists recalled instances when trouble-makers among the audience would air nasty comments at them to distract and how they were hunted in the green rooms. ‘‘What is more, even female impersoniser like Velukkutty Asan were subjected to the same harassment as women artists,’’ observed Sajitha.

When Ikkavamma, one of the first woman artists to take stage in Malayalam theatre, decided to don the male role of Nalan, was she trying to protect herself? ‘‘For a woman stage artist, her feminine body can be a major barrier with the audience viewing the character secondary to the female body in front of them. This, even in the 21st century. Is there any wonder that Ikkavamma chose to depict male characters?’’ asked Sajitha.

The book also takes a long look at the first phase of women’s movement when Anna Chandy tried to define public space. With Anna Chandy’s arrival, a lot of women took to theatre and the book has interesting list of women artists whose names go J Madhaviamma BA, LT; L Omanakumari BA BL; K Anandavalliamma MA, Susy Mathew BSc Honours and so on.

‘‘But comb through theatre history and you will find that there were incidents like a group of Brahmin women who collectively wrote and staged the drama ‘Thozhilkendrathilekku’ as early as 1948 and Lalithambika Antharjanam who never published a work on a topic as revolutionary as widow remarriage,’’ Sajitha recalled.

Once she started her search, details and anecdotes kept pouring in on as many as a thousand women artists. ‘‘But I have to put a stop somewhere,’’ she laughed. The book is due for release in August.

reema_narendran@expressbuzz.com

Being the change--By Saraswathy Nagarajan

Sajitha Madathil says the stage is her world. She talks about her role in the theatre scene in Kerala, and her book that deals with women in the theatre history of the State

As the curtain goes up and the lights dim, all eyes are riveted on the stage. There, in the twilight zone of reality and illusion, is where theatre person Sajitha Madathil lives her many lives as she etches characters that have become a part of theatre lore in Kerala.

Sajitha wanted to be a dancer. But that was until she attended her first theatre camp in 1991 and discovered that the stage was where she belonged. “It felt so right to be there; I felt at home, and I knew that this would be my world from then on,” reminisces Sajitha.

Today she is one of the names to reckon with in the theatre scene in Kerala. Her feminist plays and passionate interpretations of characters have added a new dimension of gender to the theatre scenario in Kerala, which has mainly been moulded and shaped by men. Beauty Parlour, Matsyagandi, Spinal Cord and Mathilukkal saw Sajitha move centrestage with some powerful performances.

The former student activist of Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad believes that theatre is a potent tool to raise your voice against injustice and to raise awareness on an issue. It all began in the mid-nineties, when activist and feminist Mini Sukumaran organised a group of women under the auspices of ‘Sthree Padanna Kendram,' which brought together a number of young women activists. One of the camps organised by the group happened to be on theatre and it helped several volunteers to get their act together.

“That was also the first time I met Srilatha and Sudhi, both leading theatre activists today. It led to the formation of ‘ Abhinetri,' which we thought was the first women's theatre group in the State. I decided to learn drama academically and joined Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata,” recalls Sajitha.

And did her dance help her step up the ladder in theatre? “Yes, of course; for one thing, it helps you internalise emotions and portray them. But dance, especially Indian classical dance, has a structure unlike theatre where each role and stage depends on an actor's interpretation and utilisation of space and time.”

Marriage took Sajitha to Delhi where she began working at the Sangeet Nataka Akademi. Although theatre was always there in her life, her job took her all around the country for documentation and events. In the meantime, her angst over the exploitation of women found expression in Beauty Parlour (1999); her first solo play, which was co-directed by her and its playwright K.S. Sreenath. It hit out at the “commoditisation and homogenisation of women and their physiques,” an after effect of the winds of globalisation that was beginning to blow in India.

Memorable experience

Rave reviews followed. Then, she decided to document the lives of the women of the fishing community in Kerala. Travelling through the coast of Kerala opened her eyes to the problems of the women who struggle to eke a living. That experience resulted in Matsyagandhi, another solo play, which was written for the World Earth Summit in South Africa in 2002. At Johannesburg, she interacted with actors and directors from Egypt, Brazil and the United States. “Each of us presented plays that encapsulated the lives of the women of the fishing community in our country. Those plays were put together as a single play called Guardians of the Deep,” recalls Sajitha, the excitement still lingering in her voice.

Rapturous reviews and the overwhelming response from that experience remain special to her. With a smile she adds that she felt quite lost after she returned to India. “I was back to being an employee and a homemaker. It takes time to get back to normalcy after a tour like that.”

In 2007 Sajitha returned to Kerala as a staffer of the Kuttiyattam Kendra in the city and that was when she bagged the role of Narayani in Pramod Payyannur's play based on Basheer's Mathilukkal; a role that has been immortalised by KPAC Lalitha.

“It was a challenge to play Narayani. I was told many a time that Lalitha chechi had done it in a particular way or she had spoken the dialogue that way … Finally I decided that this was Sajitha's Narayani and I had to portray the character my way. It was well received at all the venues we staged the play,” says Sajitha.

She will also soon be seen in K.P. Sasi's film Janaki. She had also acted in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Nizhalkoothu and Sibi Jose's Thuruthu. “But more than the silver screen, it is the stage that catalyses my talent. Srilatha and I plan to do a play next year and that is something that enthuses me,” she smiles.

However she says Kerala is not a kind place for women in theatre. “Each step forward is a small victory. And what hurts me most is when people presume that actors act all the time, even in real life. The sharpest comment is to “stop acting.” Every woman has to balance so many factors. Each role and play of mine was shaped after a period of intense soul searching,” avers Sajitha.

But negative vibes or personal problems has not disrupted her romance with the stage. And now that her book has been released, she sees it as a base to begin her research to throw light on the theatre history of Kerala.

Leading ladies in theatre

It was Sajitha’s research for her doctoral thesis that motivated her to write Malayala Nataka Sthree Charithram (History of Women in Malayalam Theatre), which was released yesterday. Sajitha, who is now deputy director (programme) of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, says she was surprised to find many books on theatre in Kerala silent on the role of women in theatre. “One of the first instances of a woman’s name cropping up in the books is that of a play titled Subhadraadhananjayam, written by Thottakkaattu Maadhaviyamma. However we find that the play is actually Subhadrarjunam written by a famous woman writer, Thattakkaattu Ikkaavamma. Similarly, there are many famous plays such as Akjaathavaasam by Kuttikkunju Thangachi, Saavithri Athavaa Vidhavaavivaaham by Lalithaambika Antharjanam, Devadoothi by B. Saraswthiyamma or Madhavivarma by Madhavikkutti. However, none of them find a place in mainstream books on theatre history. Perhaps the authors did not feel they were important enough for inclusion in their books,” says Sajitha.

Her book attempts to delve into the part played or not played by women in the traditional theatrical art forms of Kerala and the evolution of theatre in the State from a woman’s perspective.

“This is just a foundation for to begin my work,” says Sajitha modestly. A strong foundation can make all the difference when one is building an edifice for others to emulate and study.

Keywords: theatre, arts, Sajitha Madathil, rave reviews

Reason vs. faith-Sajitha Madathil

To observe the 400th anniversary of the year Galileo first turned his telescope upward and changed the way human beings thought of their place in the cosmos, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishat (KSSP) staged the play ‘Galileo' in Thiruvananthapuram recently.

The play is a Malayalam adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's play ‘The Life of Galileo.' In this play Brecht explores the conflict between Galileo, the Church and scientists who refuse to abandon Aristotelian astronomy. The play also takes a bold look at the costs and implications of scientific discovery and how the repercussions of a fundamental paradigm shift rocks the very foundations of our belief systems. KSSP's selection of this play is relevant because the great religion-science clash of 1633 has in some form survived right up to our times too.

Attention to detail

With close attention being paid to stage sets, costumes, songs, sound effects, lights…, the stage was set for the tale to be told by actors (volunteers of KSSP who turned artistes).

This adapted version of the German dramatist's well-known work is directed by renowned theatre person P. Gangadharan, with the support of the KSSP team.

The play has been scheduled to cover 183 stages all over Kerala. More than 30 artistes who have been divided into three troupes are creatively involved in this month-long project, which ends on December 14.

In all sense ‘Galileo' is a free-hand adaptation. The play starts in the context of a contemporary visual media talk show. Then slowly the play travels from the discussion on whether human beings landed on the moon or not, to the terrain of Galileo's life. In this, the play mainly explores the conflict between reason and faith.

However, the play erases the human conflicts that may have deepened the text and granted different shades to it. A character like Galileo's daughter Virginia, which has been extolled by critics and which has been considered to be a key role that adds to the conflict of Church and family in the text, has been completely pushed out from the KSSP's Galileo (It may be remembered here that KSSP pioneered the all-women Kala Jatha on gender issues). This character certainly held the potential to shape the adapted text more into one in the contemporary milieu.

In the original text, Brecht uses a street singer's song to demonstrate how Galileo's ideas were trickling down to the peasantry. It is exciting the way the play portrays the influence of Galileo's thoughts among ordinary people. Visualisation of a carnival through the use of a traditional story-telling form of Kerala was intelligent in two ways — firstly, it touches you deeply to see how scientific thoughts can be interpreted for the revolution of humankind; secondly, how interestingly we are shifting to folk forms while we visualise ordinary human beings. Mani who played Galileo excelled in his role.


One may take exception to the way the songs are added in between the scenes and the traits of the old Kalajatha chorus are retained to add to the power of the text. We are still moving around the periphery of Brechtian Alienation Theory, which could have easily gone along with the performance text itself.

Anyway creating a new performance language for a Brechtian play is not obviously the concern of KSSP. Those few false notes aside, this is a magnificent production in every sense.

Stage for thought- Sajitha Madathil

Last year, the first International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) organised by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi set the stage on fire and carved a name for itself as the premier theatre event in the State. From December 20 till December 29, theatre buffs are once again in for a treat as the second edition of the ITFoK takes centre stage in Thrissur.

Four categories of plays will be staged at this year's festival. There will be an African and Asian Panorama along with the Malayalam Panorama of nationally acclaimed works. In the early part of the evening, the stage will be set apart for plays by theatre groups from across Kerala. Acclaimed theatre person Abhilash Pillai will curate the festival on behalf of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi. To make the festival more rooted in our culture, included in the programme are folk and classical theatre forms of Kerala too.

Sidi Goma

One of the things to look out for at this year's fete is the Sidi Goma tribe's maiden performance in Kerala. The Sidi Goma are a tribe of East African origin, who came to India eight centuries ago and made Gujarat their home. They follow Sufism and they have a exceptionally rich musical tradition, which has flourished for centuries.

The African Panorama throws up some interesting questions on the similarity (if any) between African theatre and Indian theatre. In fact, there is quite a lot of interesting similarities in the theatre practices in India and in Africa. Both practices have deep-rooted folk and ritual traditions. In the histories of both, there is still the struggle between the new and the old forms; at times one dominates while the other suffers. It is certainly enlightening to watch out for these nuances in Afro-Asian performances after 50 years of our own effort to shape a national theatre.

African Panorama

Consequently, the African Panorama has four exciting plays that will highlight the struggle between the primitive and the modern.

‘Every Year Every Day I am Walking' is from Cape Town, South Africa, and has been directed by Fleishmann, who is well known for his emphasis of the visceral and visual elements of performance. With a series of potent images, he visualises a little girl and her mother fleeing from the violence and despair of their homeland.

Another well-known director Keith Pearson's ‘Githaa' deals with Kenyan life in the form of a folk tale. The myths and rural realities have been portrayed through the story of a young woman. A series of stories that connect the two realities, through song, dance and dialogue, constitute the play.

Christopher Weare who directed ‘MacBeki,' another play in the Panorama, draws inspiration from ‘Macbeth,' Shakespeare's drama about ambition, power, deceit and greed. ‘Macbeki' exists independently of ‘Macbeth' and sparkles with the satirical genius of veteran artiste Pieter-Dirk Uys. It will be quite an experience for the Malayali audience, many of whom may be familiar with the nuances of African politics. ‘Sauti Kimya' (Sounds in Silence) is going to be another interesting production by Pearson. It moves around the Taita community's concept of ‘fighi' – a place where all conflict is put on hold, a place of resolution and reflection.

I am sure this layered musical production will give a sense of theatre searching for its roots through contemporary social conflicts. This intelligently curated section of plays from Africa will provide the audience glimpses of both the tribal culture and the contemporary social conflicts of African life. It may even be motivating for theatre enthusiasts in Kerala to understand how the Africans use their their traditional forms to communicate about their contemporary crisis to the outside world.

The Asian Panorama, showcases two plays from Pakistan. ‘The Hotel Mohenjodaro' (1968) is based on the story by renowned Urdu short story writer Ghulam Abbas. The story is told as an account of a television journalist, reporting from a troubled tribal area in Pakistan that was the scene of a devastating suicide bomb attack. This play directed by Shahid Nadeem is dedicated to the victims of terrorism in Pakistan.

‘Burqvaganza' is the other play from Pakistan. It's a story of love in the times of jihad. Through the simple narrative of two young lovers, it tells of how they are determined to defy the hypocritical values of an ultra-conservative society.

The Malayalam Panorama section of the festival comprises works by young male (!) directors such as Naripatta Raju, Suveeran, Deepan, Jyothish M.J., Shanker Venkiteswaran and Surjith to name a few.

The 10-day theatre festival comes to a close with ‘When We Dead Awaken,' directed by renowned theatre director Ratan Thiyam and based on Henrik Ibsen's last ever play of the same name. The festival is sure to be a delightful experience and perhaps even a thought-provoking one that may lead Malayalam theatre in a new direction.




The inauguration



The inaugural ceremony of the second ITFoK will begin with the performance of the Sidi Goma's, which promises to be an exhilarating representation of their unique African and Indian heritage. Their performance will be followed by the inaugural play ‘The Caine Mutiny Court Martial' by the Motley Theatre, Mumbai, which has been directed by theatre and film artiste Naseeruddin Shah. The play is based on Herman Wouk's dramatisation of the court-martial scene from his novel ‘The Caine Mutiny.' It is an intense drama about men, mutiny and morality. It is bound to be an interesting start for the festival.

Waiting once again for Sidi Goma! By Sajitha Madathil

Waiting for Sidi Goma!!
The ten-day Second International Afro-Asian theatre ITFoK-09 from 20th December to 29th December at Thrissur, had opened its wings with the unique African-Indian heritage of Sidi Goma performance, which brought about a fascinatingly exuberant energy and joy; indeed, a captivating, powerful and exhilarating experience for the land of Pooram!!
The main theme of the festival was African plays. The groups that came from South Africa and Kenya had performed five plays. Those theatre groups had included in them artists from different social set-ups and communities, and was a real reflection of African society. It was interesting to see the reaction of the audience, reflecting what Africans meant for them…black, huge, curly-haired…perceptions had turned upside down when they saw real Indians matching their concept about real Africans!
Black Sidis of Gujarat are a tribal Sufi community of East African origin. They came to India eight centuries ago. In Gujarat they had settled down at Bharuch village. They had been leading their silent, invisible life for centuries because factors such as they were black, from Africa, and Muslim, had kept them at lower socio-economic and educational levels. But, their life started changing from 1985 when the power of their ritual, folk performance was experienced by the society. They claimed their visibility in Indian society from their roots...from their songs, percussion and dance... the flames of which were kept with them for the last 800 years.. They had carried with them their exceptionally rich musical tradition and kept it alive and flourishing through the generations, unknown to the rest of the world.
Sidi men and women perform sacred music and dance during rituals in the shrines to Bava Gor...Most of them are musically inclined, who recognise music as a tool for becoming closer to God. Over the time, the Sidis' native African music styles, melodic and rhythmic structures, lyrics and musical instruments mingled with local influences in Gujarat to form this unique and symbolic representation of African-Indianness. These singing and dancing sessions were very community-based till they got a chance to perform at Delhi. Thankfully some of the cultural authorities identified the magic of Sidi Goma and through Western Cultural Centre, Udaipur, had redesigned the performance for the modern stage! And a new costume has been designed for exhibition of this newly identified performance!
Sidi Goma perform in a group of twelve: four lead musicians (drummers/singers) and eight dancers. Mukarbhan, Mushindo, Thaz, Thamama and Mayi mizha are the instruments used for performance. These all are identified as African instruments but they have now lost the continuity of their tradition in East Africa where they came from!
The program presented an overview of Sidi ritual performance, consisting of joyful, satirical praise dances to their Saint. Intoxicating drum patterns in rhythm support the dancers who perform with feats of liveliness and strength, gradually reaching an ecstatic climax. While the music gradually gets more rapid and excited, the dances unfold with constantly evolving individual and small-group acts of animal-gesture imitations and certain types of circle dances. Most exciting was the second part of their performance the climax of which came, with the performers breaking coconut on their heads while dancing!
Sabeer Siddi thinks that Sidi Goma performance changed their life. "In India people think of us as Africans, although we are Indians.’ These identity issues are always there. They sing their songs in Arabic, Swahili, Hindi and Gujarati...sometimes they mix all languages together. Sabeer is proud about his dance, yes!!It was really an exciting experience. The entire audience in the Regional Theatre of Thrissur was throbbing with the big drum mugarban, dancing to the powerful rhythm, howling while performers were breaking coconuts..Yes.. Sabeer, we all are waiting. Waiting once again for Sidi Goma!

Janaki

mathilukal-Narayani

Mathilukal-Narayani!

14th IFFK days!

days after