NRI cultural meet in Saudi Arabia seeks revival of Indian dramatic arts

JEDDAH: NRI theatre lovers in Saudi Arabia have expressed concern over the dying art of theatre during a recent discussion titled “The drama begins with the next bell” by the Riyadh-based cultural organisation, IDAM. Strong cinematic influence has been the bane of modern theatre, the speakers said. The chances of revival of theatre lie in
original productions and the addressing of issues concerning the common man, the speakers added.

The audience at “The drama begins with the next bell” in Riyadh
Speaking on the occasion, cultural activist Jayachandran Neruvambram said, “The Seventies witnessed a unique experimental theatre movement known as indigenous theatre that spread throughout India, spearheaded by legendary theatre personalities like Girish Karnad, Shivaram Karanth, Kavalam Narayana, Utpal Dutt and Habib Tanvir. The movement was a genuine and creative exercise of dramatic representation based on the vibrant practicing traditions and directives as prescribed in the Natyasastra, the authoritative text on Indian aesthetics. The earlier productions were influenced by regional artistic and folk traditions comprising a variety of music, dance and theatre forms. It made a lasting impact on society for sometime, but the lack of second-level creative artists and cheap imitations of original productions forced the indigenous theatre movement into oblivion.”
Jayachandran said productions with progressive themes were a great source of inspiration for the renaissance movements in Kerala and also for creating socialistic consciousness among people, which culminated in the formation of the first democratically elected Communist government in 1957. But such politically active professional drama troupes gradually showed signs of degeneration and slipped into populism and elitism.
Another speaker, Iqbal Kodungallur, said amateur theatre movement is still vibrant in some parts of Kerala, and cited quite a few productions that he’d seen recently in Kerala and the Gulf. He said people in rural India still like watching plays and appreciated the solidarity shown by theatre artists in Kerala for upholding the freedom of expression by staging a 21-km-long street play as a mark of protest against the banning of a play by the state government.
Noted social activist R.Muraleedharan said indigenous theatre movement was still alive and well. Crowd-pulling plays presented by the Kerala Science & Literature Movement by utilizing the forms of indigenous theatre, epic theatre and street plays could be considered proof of great success.
Other speakers and participants at the cultural meet included Siddique Abubacker, Siddique Nilambur, Rasool Salam, Raju Philip, Beena Faisal, Sanath, Sheeba Raju, M. Faisal, Pramod Kozikkod, Sharon Sherif, Shyju Chemboor, Anil Kumar and Shyam Pandalam.