A play for Chennaiites and Californians

CHENNAI: As the curtains came down on Thanimai' (loneliness) at the PS Senior School auditorium on Saturday, the buzz among the audience was uniform. "It could have been my story, it mirrored my feelings," said Krishnan and half-a-dozen heads nodded in agreement.
"People in the Bay Area said much the same thing," says Dheepa Ramanujam, the play's director.The story is about a man who never has time for himself when newly married, due to the presence of the extended family, and finally sets up home alone. His wife is dead, and he plunges into depression, which he manages to come out of.
The NRI director, a former TV artiste, staged will the seventh and last screening of her Tamil play on Sunday at Vael's International School, Injambakkam. A resident of the Bay Area in California for years, Ramanujam launched theatre group KREA in 2001. "Initially we had only a few people arriving to watch the play, but over the years we have taken the plays to many cities in America and Canada," says Ramanujam.
N Kumar of New Jersey says: "Taking back DVDs of Tamil plays as gifts for friends back home in the US was one the highlights of home' shopping during visits to Chennai." "But although enjoyable, nothing compares to the feeling of going for a play where you are currently living," adds Kumar, who has watched Thanimai'.
The full house reception until now, has been hugely rewarding, says Ramanujam, who assisted director Arun Vaidyanathan in the critically acclaimed Achchamundu achchamundu' shot largely in New Jersey.
Spanning both worlds, addressing the needs of NRIs and performing in front of a discerning audience in Chennai is not an easy task, say members of KREA. "All of us are working professionals and getting together for rehearsals called for perfect co-ordination," they recall. Driving long distances for weekend rehearsals, comparing notes with the help of webcams and staying in touch with local trends on things like decor for stage sets "all added to the excitement".
"No matter how creative or good you are elsewhere, nothing, not even an award, can match the high of standing ovation in Chennai by the local audience. It is a challenge to perform in a mainstream cultural centre such as Tamil Nadu, which has seen the likes of TKS brothers, Cho' Ramaswamy, RS Manohar, K Balachander, Mahendra, Shekhar, Mohan and others, and leave a tiny footprint, " says Ramanujam.
KREA last performed in Chennai three years ago.