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Panchali Sabatham

Alliance Francaise of Madras and Koothu-p-pattarai Trust present Vidai Thedum Kuralgal Mudiyadha Kundhal based on Subramania Bharathi's 'Panchali Sabatham', directed by Anjana Puri from 23rd to 27th May 2004 at the AF auditorium in Nungambakkam, Chennai.

Panchali Sabatham

Panchali Sabatham is the very familiar tale of how Panchali was staked in a game of dice. This is the pivotal scene in the whole Mahabharata. Subramania Bharati's vision resonates in every art form in Tamil culture, be it classical or folk, literary or performance.

The performance

In this production, the chorus forms the human 'curtain that illustrates the enactments between the characters of the story. Through poetry, song, narration and movement the human curtain calls attention to the enactments. There is the description of Hastinapur, Duryodhana's court, his burning jealousy at the success that the Pandavas have achieved, of how he confesses this jealousy to Shakuni and Shakuni's reaction to his emotions. The game of dice is another enactment that the human curtain speaks of. It lives through the experience of the Pandavas losing everything to Shakuni's cunning ways, the rage of the Pandavas at having to helplessly witness Panchali being dragged by Dushasana into the court of the Kauravas and the terrible oath she takes.

The production

This play is directed by Anjana Puri, a musician who has composed for several plays of Rang Vidhushak, a theatre group from Bhopal.

An excerpt from Panchali Shabadam was initially conceptualised as a demonstration of a training method, where exercises were developed to synchronize the movement of the voice and the body. It became a base for creating an entire teaching/learning methodology that analyses the rhythmic link between body and voice, developing on existing exercises, and seeing the text as a medium for improving performing skills. Bharatiyar's poem became the medium to discover the 'soundscape' concealed within it. The characters of the poem have thus been brought to life thlrough sound, movement and narration.

Director's note

My work with amateur and professional theatre groups across the country has given me the opportunity to see their work processes from close range. This has given me reason to feel that an actor needs to analyse the basic relationship between his body, his own voice and the space within which he performs. It is necessary for him to view the voice in the general context of human communication. For this reason a series of exercises was developed to free the voice first as a human instrument and then as the actor's instrument. Through this an attempt has been made to render the unseen and hear the unheard. The voice becomes the means or the medium to experience an image, otherwise inexplicable.

Linguistically, too, I felt that Panchali Sabatham had within it to accommodate the literary and the spoken Tamil. Therefore interweaving the text of Panchali Sabatham with a literary Tamil that is rendered by the chorus and the spoken Tamil of today rendered by the kattiakkaran created its own music. The music of speech and the melody of song merged together with the movement of the body have created imagery and images that have much to say. The voice in its physical form becomes a take-off point to craft a "sound-scape" that would have a story to tell.

Anjana Puri

Anjana Puri is a post graduate in Hindustani vocal music. She was formally trained in music by Sulochana Brihaspati of the Rampur Sadarang Parampara, Sajjan Lal Brahmabhatt of the Gwalior Gharana and Afghanisthan's well-known musician the late Ustad Hashim Mehmud of the Patiala gharana. She has composed music for several plays of Rang Vidhushak of Bhopal.

Anjana has been training actors in music, voice production and speech in different parts of the country for the past 10 years. She is at present a part of the RANG VIDHUSHAK theatre group in Bhopal, headed by Bansi Kaul. She has been conducting theatre workshops on co-ordinating voice with movement for adults as well as children.

Cast and Credits

On stage: Duryodhanan Shakuni Dusshasanan Viduran Dharman Arjunan Bhiman Nakulan Sahadevan Panchali Teroti Kattiyakaran Chorus

Off stage: Adaptation Make-up, costume, music and direction Sound design Harmonium Movements Lights Property Production Manager Stage Manager

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All the above and M Bala, K Nagarajan, N Vithun, P Thangadurai, Anjana Puri, N Suresh, Gurusomasundaram

Anjana Puri Ch Jayarao S Shankaran M Palani C Raveendran M Palani Elayaperumal Ch Jayarao

Contact Info:
For any information regarding the play, contact:
Koothu-p-pattarai Trust, 58, 3rd Main Rd,
Sri Ayappa Nagar, Chennai 600 111
Ph: 24796940,24871003
E-mail: kpp@vsnl.com

RR
Published on 20^th May 2004

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