A fillip to Tamil theatre

N. Ravi, president, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan felicitating T.V.Varadharajen at the inaugural function of Navarasa Nataka Vizha in Chennai. Also present were Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti and K.N. Ramaswamy

N. Ravi, president, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan felicitating T.V.Varadharajen at the inaugural function of Navarasa Nataka Vizha in Chennai. Also present were Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti and K.N. Ramaswamy   | Photo Credit: S_R_Raghunathan

Navarasa Nataka Vizha will cover diverse subjects — social to historical

The third edition of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Navarasa Nataka Vizha was inaugurated by Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti on May 8, at the Bhavan’s auditorium in Mylapore, Chennai. At the event, theatre artiste T.V. Varadharajen was felicitated

Nalli Kuppuswami said that in the 1960s, there were sabhas that had a membership of 1000, but available auditoriums could accommodate only 500 people. So, the same play would be staged on two days. With the advent of television in 1975, theatre began to die a slow death. By the 1980s and 90s, it seemed as if Tamil drama had breathed its last. But the concerted efforts of Raadhu and other theatre artistes played a major role in the revival of interest in theatre.

Cho’s last play

In 1992, Cho staged his plays at Kalaivanar Arangam, and again in 2004 at the Narada Gana Sabha hall, with the announcement that he was bidding goodbye to the stage. Nalli said that people made a beeline to the sabha, the older people, who had seen the plays, taking their grandchildren along to the shows. Cho said that he could not stage ‘Endru thaniyum inda sudandira dhaagam’, because the sets would require not less than 50,000 rupees. Drama festivals were organised by T.V. Varadharajen in 2005 and by Subhash Chandran of V.K.R. Cultural Society in 2006. Today many sabhas organise theatre festivals.

N. Ravi, who recently took charge as President of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, presided over the function. He said that among the performing arts, music and dance thrive, but theatre has been neglected. In recent years, however, it has received a boost because of the encouragement from many sabhas. The plays for Bhavan’s Drama Festival were picked by a jury consisting of theatre artistes ARS, Y.Gee Mahendra and T.V. Varadharajen.

Mr. Ravi said that this year’s plays covered a gamut of subjects — social and historical. The idea was to provide entertainment along with social values. A troupe from Coimbatore will also be staging its play as part of the festival. Mr. Ravi pointed out that K.N. Ramaswamy, Director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai, devoted all his time to planning and organising programmes.

The Chennai Kendra of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan would be celebrating its diamond jubilee this year, and Bhavan was going to have another theatre festival later this year, which will have plays in all four Southern languages, and in Sanskrit.