It’s that time of the year when everything around smells sweet — petrichor, festive fragrance and the scent of stage! It’s the time when theatre is bustling, lights are on, there’s an echo of voices; directors calling the shots, protagonists playing myriad emotions, the stage is set, and the audience sits glued to their seats, clapping and cheering with joy, at other times silent overcome with emotions.
Such is theatre; such is the beauty of the stage. And the ongoing Short+Sweet South India Theatre Festival lives up to its name with yet another brilliant edition, albeit bigger and better. This time around, there are a lot of newcomers, first-timers, local artistes participating in the festival.
“The best part about Short+Sweet South India Theatre Festival is that every year, we get new teams. This time, we had 98 registrations, which is almost double the number of plays we usually do. And there is an interesting mix of regulars, as well as new groups. This festival also gives a chance to people who usually don’t have time for theatre owing to their work, etc, to get back to stage. Moreover, since the format is of 10 minutes, it further helps people to prepare their play quickly,” Meera Krishnan, festival director, tells us. Meera, who is also senior manager, Prakriti Foundation, started out as manager for the festival for the first four years, before she took on the role of the festival director.
Sharing further about what this festival brings to the audience, Meera says, “Stories, and more stories! And they are so varied in their themes and approach that the audience will never get bored. For instance, there was a play from Delhi that talked about how Delhi has no land for graves! We also received scripts from Australia. One of the plays that made it to the finals was an Australian play, Bus Stop, but translated into Tamil. Now, an Australian play may not work with the audience here in terms of context and sensibility, but what our artistes have done this time is to adapt it to local sensibility. So, what I am trying to say is, this time we have many new writers and a lot of Tamil plays, which is a deviation from the previous years where we received more English plays. So, this is a big welcome change.”
With the finals happening next week, eight finalists have already been announced, with three remaining to be declared this weekend. The finalists include: Tasmac, directed by Kalaichozhan; Bus Stop (Muruganandam Selvaraj); Namma Status Patheengala (R Jayachandran); Murugarai Kaanom (Vedarun); Under the Bodhai Tree (Dileep Rangan T); For Crying Out Loud! (Bhavya Balantrapu); Dance, Baby, Dance (Mahalakshmi); Eric Tile Dysfunction (Rayana Pandey).
Vinod Anand, who plays an elderly man, Siddhartha in Under the Bodai Tree, says that it is the story that connected with the younger generation that helped the play make the cut. “It’s about two old men in an old age home, and about one last flicker of hope, or one last act of defiance in their lives. It’s a play that will hopefully make people think about the time they spend with their parents, as it addresses a truth that most of us are not very comfortable addressing.” The use of poigal kuthirai adds to the plot in a unique way, one which Vinod does not want to disclose as “it will be a spoiler.”
Vinod, who has been involved with the Short+Sweet South India Theatre Festival right from its inception in Chennai 13 years ago, either as performer, writer or director of a play, or as a jury member, tells us that initially a lot of people were hesitant about the 10 minute format as they felt it was diluting theatre. “However, in any format of theatre, long or short, the technique remains the same, skill sets have to be the same; it’s just that you have to condense everything and present it faster,” he says, adding, “It actually gave people the opportunity to crystallise their thoughts better because you have just 10 minutes and you really want to bring across all the emotions that you possibly can. So, you have to be very sure of what you want to say. That was a tremendous incentive to get on to a10 minute format, because the skill set, if anything, needs to be honed even more because you just have 10 minutes to showcase it.”
As Vinod mentions ‘incentive’, we are reminded of a play tilted Incentive, which is a part of the festival, directed by Sandeep John. As the play waits to see whether it will make it to the finals or not, we ask Sandeep what the plot is about. “Every deed has an incentive. Some may be monetary and some incentives in life can just be an experience. This story is about a cab driver chasing his incentive. It’s a conversation between the cab driver and a passenger, written by Aravinda Bharathi. The genre is thriller/horror with an element of mystery, something I have always wanted to work with,” says Sandeep.
This edition, as we mentioned earlier, promises a plethora of stories. “We have no restrictions in terms of themes, storylines; we don’t even censor the plays. The only thing we are strict about is the 10 minutes,” says Meera.
For Crying Out Loud, one of the finalists, explores a rather socially relevant theme of sexual abuse. The play is about a character who is accused of a sexual offence; and the High Court is about to make its verdict. Whether or not he gets acquitted or is found guilty forms the climax. “The end is thought-provoking for it questions if the verdict can be cathartic enough for someone who has been abused, whether or not the accused is found guilty. It questions if hope lasts after spending so much energy bringing the accused to books,” says Sukanya, one of the characters in the play.
Written and directed by R Jayachandran, Namma Status Patheengala explores yet another socially relevant issue. A satire on human behaviour based on how we consume digital content, the play presents news — a lot of it — to make a point of how we move on to the next based on statuses (on WhatsApp, Insta) we share. “The background sound of a train plays a very important role in this play as it talks about a train accident,” says Jayachandran, who won Best Director last year.
There’s yet another play we must mention, Eric Tile Dysfunction by a theatre group from Mumbai. “It’s a comedy; the story revolves around a man named Eric, who runs a tile shop; the dysfunction, of course, is revealed in the play,” says director Rayana Pandey, adding, “It is a series of misfortunes that hit the store, and in a very comic way, we talk about how the business suffers. PS: The end is interesting!”
Rayana also says that the biggest draw of this festival is in capturing new audiences. “It also encourages new talent and helps artistes take their theatre career forward. Moreover, the range that it showcases is amazing; those two hours are so worth it for the audience with so many genres; for instance, this time, we had a devised play, puppetry, so the festival is not limited to traditional formats at all.”
With eight teams in the finals, and three more waiting to be added to the list, the finale is almost here. And we can’t wait to watch who among the best of the best will walk away with the winner’s trophy. That said, every participant is a winner in this festival for each team member has given the audience something to take back home.
Finalists are here!
Tasmac: Despite a government body running the Tasmac, which sells liquor, how can they take extra Rs10 over and above the MRP?
Bus Stop: A heartfelt tale of two unlikely strangers who befriend each other at a solitary bus stop.
Namma Status Patheengala: Satires our digital behaviour and human sensitivity on a current train crash tragedy.
Murugarai Kaanom: An old woman working outside a local temple and her grandson are forced to make new ways of living when they go out of work after the temple deity goes missing.
Under the Bodhai Tree: Siddhartha is a resident of Paradise Old Age Home and Dharma joins in as a new roommate. A letter is brought by the nurse, which changes the course of events in a normal day at this old age home.
For Crying Out Loud! While awaiting the verdict on a case against a sexual offender, others introspect on their own experiences. Will this verdict give them redemption?
Dance, Baby, Dance: Aparna loves to dance, but people around her are not keen.
Eric Tile Dysfunction: When life makes a joke out of you, make it a meme! (Three more finalists to be announced this weekend)
Tickets at Rs 250.
At Alliance Française of Madras, Nungambakkam.
FINALS
SHOW 1 28-Sep-23 Thu 7:00 PM
SHOW 2 29-Sep-23 Fri 7:00 PM
SHOW 3 30-Sep-23 Sat 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM
AWARDS 30-Sep-23 Sun 9:00 PM
Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @rupsjain
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