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 Kamalakshi - A Play in English - Chitra Mahesh e-mail: chithoo@gmail.com October 30, 2023 (The views and opinions expressed in this review are those of the writer.) As the screen opened out at the Narada Gana Sabha packed with theatre lovers, friends, family, the temple set stood out. The shadow of the Shivalinga shrouded in darkness somewhat, a bit of light somewhere instantly made me feel I was at a temple. The grey tones, the structure and everything about that sannidhi was Shiva - Nothing and yet Everything! This according to me, set the entire tone for the play that was going to ensue. Kamalakshi, a very interesting, chunk of history kind of a story written by Sujatha Vijayraghavan and designed, directed by P C Ramakrishna as part of the Madras Players endeavor, was moving in many ways. It was also questionable in some ways. This is something that always happens in any creative endeavor, where there are two sides to everything.  Parur MS Ananthashree & Sumitra Nitin The good things about the play were the excellent vocals (Sikkil Gurucharan, one would not expect anything else, Parur MS Ananthashree), the way characters wove in and out in a seamless manner and the way a story was told in 1 hour 55 minutes. That can be perceived as long or crisp depending on how much the audience resonated with the performances and the narration. All of it was really nicely done. The story revolves around Kamalakshi, a beautiful tender Devadasi dancer in the late 19th century and how she resists the ongoing role of her heritage. It is a rough one, where the most beautiful of them - dancers par excellence and singers too - fall prey to the customs and rituals of being married to the deity and the life thereafter. In this case Thyagayya - in Tiruvarur to whom she wants to remain wedded in body and spirit. But the social circumstances of upkeep and maintenance, demand a patron (which her mother believes is the only way to progress and live with respect and has done so till now) eventually leading to decline and decay. This is a part of history which many of us can only know theoretically, but not in actual reality or experience. Were they marginalized or were they venerated? Were they sought after or were they something to be used? There is a predictability to such a story and the continued romanticising and making the Devadasi an object of pity is merely reducing her to a fetish. Who speaks for her? Can we, in our modern lives, truly understand the vulnerability and complexity of her life? That history of hereditary artistes is multi layered and the question of appropriation is never far away in the discussions. A play like Kamalakshi would require a great deal of layering - text and subtext. Despite the numerous questions swirling in my mind, the entire cast performed competently. The other thing that I could not really relate to is the spoken English in the way one assumes all the characters would have spoken in Tamil or the native language - which any way is a huge challenge to playwrights and the director. To be able to get that absolutely right and still with total realism, takes some work. One is not trivializing the amazing work that has gone into the play, but at some point this probably needs more thinking. Sikkil Gurucharan has taken to acting like duck to water and his ease on stage is palpable. The dancing by Sumitra Nitin was average - the role demanded only so much perhaps! Anuradha Ramesh as Parvathmma was rather outstanding as was Parur MS Ananthshree. Sabapathy played by V Balagurunathan, was authentic as he was at ease with both the dancing, acting and the nattuvangam bit - he played the role of the Guru aptly. Others who played their roles include S Ram, Hyma Ramakrishna (a neat performance), T T Srinath, Manoj Sudhakar, K Harishankar. The original concept sketch is by Uma Narayan and Adithya Hari Sethuraman. Designed and executed by Victor Paulraj and Studio 7, Lights - again Victor, Costumes - Krithana Ravikumar (blended with the story), Makeup -Rathi Azhaguraj, Soundscape- Abirash Daniel, Sound Effects Control- Sanjana Harikumar, Videography -Sujith Panikkar, Poster Design- Jyotsna PS, Production Manager- Gopi Nair, Trailer shooting- MDND Studio. The arts have to be supported and but for those who gave to ensure that this production came out and with the required support, are a host of them. One hopes that theatre and such collaborative endeavors continually get more and more support so that it gets more explorative and there are many paths taken. Unless this freedom and spirit of exploration are there, when will it transcend the mediocre and the average?  Chitra Mahesh is a senior journalist based in Chennai. |
