Kochi: It was legendary playwright Thoppil Bhasi’s play ‘Ningal Enne Communist Aaki’ that brought about political churning in the state that led to Kerala becoming one of the few places in the world to elect a communist government through ballots in 1957.
Theatre is an inseparable element in the state and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi (KSNA) is toiling hard to revive it by holding
International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) which will have the grand finale of its 13th edition on Tuesday at Thrissur.
The KSNA was upbeat as there was overwhelming response from the public to the festival since February 5th when the curtains of the mega event went up.
The penultimate day of the Festival witnessed heavy turnout as there was an unprecedented rush of theater lovers to witness shows held at different platforms in and around the KSNA.
The stage lovers of all age groups not only witnessed the shows but also interacted with the actors and others who had thronged the venue to witness the shows.
The cultural capital of Thrissur seems to be turning into a global arena for reviving stage culture which was eclipsed due to the growing impact of cinema, TV, social media and others.
The organisers had planned everything in a truly professional manner and the ambiance was electrifying. After missing the event for two years due to the pandemic, the people really celebrated the festival.
The festival had the curatorial theme ‘Humanity Must Unite’, underscoring the need to reinforce the human spirit. Anuradha Kapur, Deepan Sivaraman, and B Ananthakrishnan are the curators. Masters of theatre like Peter Brook, Eugenio Barba, Romeo Castelucci, Brett Bailey are taking part. Colloquium, workshops, public lectures, and allied events like performance poetry and traditional art performances were the other attractions.
International plays from Italy, Denmark, Palestine, Taiwan, France, South Africa, Lebanon and the UK are being staged.
Lecture session, workshop for women, theater pedagogy session were among other events organised in connection with the festival.
ITFOK started in 2008 under the stewardship of great actor Murali to promote theatre art in the state.
Theatre on a revival mode
