King Lear in a Kathakali vesham

It was a novel theater performance for the city folks of Thiruvananthapuram, as King Lear of Shakespeare walked on to the stage in a Kathakali attire. In the next one hour and forty five minutes, his tragic tale left the audience at Leavee Hall, East Fort, spellbound.

Put together by French choreographer Annette Leday and Australian playwright David McRuvie, the show was organised by French Alliance of Trivandrum in association with Government of Kerala, Bharat Bhavan, French Institute in India and Theatre of the City of Paris. The performance was a re-enactment of King Lear, which was premiered by the team in 1989, with the attakatha penned by Kathakali playwright Kodungallur Marumakan Raja.

The play unfolded in nine scenes and

Peesapilly Rajeevan

enacted the title character of King Lear, in a kathi vesham. The other important characters like King Lear’s daughters, Goneril and Regan, were portrayed in kari vesham by artistes Sadanam Bhasi and Unnikrishnan Nair respectively. The role of Cordelia was featured in a minukku vesham by Kalamandalam Praveen. Giving some improvisations in traditional style, Lear’s fool was played by Kalamandalam Manoj Kumar and King of France by Sadanam Manikandan.

The supporting artistes on stage were Sadanam Jyotish Babu and Kalamandalam Vishwas on vocals; and Sadanam Ramakrishnan and Kalamandalam Rajanarayanan on percussion.

Photo Courtesy: Satheeshan Karicheri

Kalamandalam Praveen,Peesappilly Rajeevan,Sadanam Bhasi, Kalamandalam Unnikrishnan

Methil Devika

Pramod Payyanur

Annette Lady

Vimala Menon