Wanted: People who can narrate the story behind a statue

CHENNAI: The

Marina beach

attracts tourists as well as locals. But often, the statues that dot the beach go unnoticed as people take in the sea, sun and sand. That’s why the Chennai Storytelling Association has been conducting a walking tour every year to narrate the stories of each personality who has had a statue dedicated to them. And this year, as they gear up to conduct the 10th edition of the tour, they are looking for performers who can tell the stories of each character.

The 10th Annual ‘Living Statues of Marina Beach’ Walking Tour will be held on August 27 as part of the Madras Week celebrations. “We will have dramatic enactments, storytelling and poetry reading for each statue – Kannagi, NSC Bose, Thiruvalluvar, George Pope, Bharathidasan, and Avvaiyar – in both Tamil and English,” says Suriya Lakshmi, 29, a member of the association, who will be curating the tour.

Every year, the association ropes in volunteers who will narrate the stories and recite the poems of each character. The participants are led on the tour, which starts with the Kannagi statue and winds up at the Avvaiyar statue, with the volunteers performing before each statue.

“The person playing the character will narrate the story of each personality in the first person. In the case of poets such as Thiruvalluvar, they will also recite a few of the couplets or poems,” says Lakshmi. “If we get young children, we stick to just the stories but if the crowd is a little older, we may even talk about contemporary developments. For instance, how the Kannagi statue was moved and reinstalled.”

While they have the script ready, they are looking for more volunteers. “We have finalised on the people who will be doing the Tamil performance for Kannagi and Avvaiyar but are looking for people who can play the rest of the roles,” says Lakshmi. “It is not necessary to be a storyteller, we can train you to perform,” she adds. The volunteers can be of any age group and can choose to dress up as the character they play or even perform in casuals.

“We also get a lot of children for the tour, so I will also be at hand to explain the stories to them,” she says. “Though people pass by the statues every day, many people don’t know anything about the stories behind each statue.”

The event will start on August 27 at 7:30am at the Kannagi Statue (on Marina Beach, Bharathi Salai) and will be over by around 8:30am. Admission is free.

Interested people can contact 98847 28412, suriyalakshmig@icloud.com, www.storytellinginstitute.org.


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