Vesadharis may have been launched in 2015, but it was only when one of its founders, Chandrasekar Venkatraman, won the Best Actor-Male award at the Short + Sweet Theatre Festival this year that they got the impetus to present their debut production to the public. Sakshi, written by co-founder Sudarsun Raghavan, is a Tamil play that portrays the story of a child abuse victim. Explaining the story of the play, Sudarsun says, “The storyline revolves around a 35-year-old middle-class man who manages to lead a happy life with his family despite various struggles. Until one day an unfortunate event turns his life upside down.”
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With a mix of theatre, dance, and music, the play is lead by Chandrasekar, accompanied by others in the cast, including classical and contemporary dancers, Ashaa and Janani, and city-based experimental band Yazhi, lead by founder and violinist Kiran Kashyap. There is a dash of poetry in the dialogues too, we learn. Sudarsun says, “While writing the script, Chandrasekar was very cautious that we should not preach to people, rather we should develop empathy. We wanted to portray the sorrow of the character through the words, and it was accomplished by Chandrasekar’s words. The poetry is by Vasanthi Swetha, a regular in the open mic circuit in the city.”
Assuring that despite the subject of sexual violence, the play is suitable for all families, Sudarsun adds that the play is open to ages 16 and above. “We are planning to take this play to Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the third week of July next year,” he says, adding that there are three other plays in their line-up for the next three months — The Heroes & Psychos (English), Shikandi (English) and Parakaya Pravesam (Tamil).
January 5. At Alliance Française of Madras. Tickets available online.