Chillu – On the occasion of the launch of the US edition of the play – The playwright speaks :
My responses to various updates of Chillu actors posted in Chillu FB page collated and posted here to reach a wider audience
Character : Shiela
It may sound incredible but it is true – you can convey more content-wise, more precisely and without mincing words through street theater than through conventional theater.
The stee play-within-play in Chillu is something all of us in Team Chillu enjoyed evolving, rehearsing and performing.
The gentle beats of thappu waft through the air as the stage darkens and the two lead dancers (Mrithula and Shalini) lead the team of a dozen dancers gently swaying to the music. The rhythmic beats slowly reach a crescendo as the kattiyankarans (narrators in folk theater) anchor the proceedings with bubbling enthusiasm.
Shiela could be a logical extension of the off stage personality of the ever cheerful and smiling Mrithula, a rare instance of the character blending seamlessly with the actor.
I wish Akshaya Ganesh as Shiela in the USA edition of Chillu, all the very best
character : Krish
I created Krish (he comes with the more attractive name, Kichami in the novella) as a mostly simple character with two distinct attributes – his readiness to bow before authority, not necessarily that of his loving wife but even an oppressive establishment; and the second one, his having a roving eye.
The novella opens with his ogling at the government van driver girl clad in micro shorts, hauling the humanoids to his place…
Krish evolved throughout the rewriting for stage and during rehearsals thru discussions between the actor and director..
Kalesh did a good job as Krish and I wish Karthik Ramachandran all the very best to treat us to an encore with an ambiance a tad different.
Character : Kaush
Rare moments for a playwright to move to the aisles and watch the actor friends discuss the characters!
I know it is tough playing the mother and that is not a motherhood statement. Hema Krish brought in the multifarious shades of motherhood into Kaush – the expecting mother, the mother of the new born (horrified with the intrusion of technology into personal life), the doting mother of an infant, boy and an adult.
In fact Kaush is the second complex character Hema has enacted for me, the first one being the still more complex Nandhini in ‘Ezhuthu-k-kaarar’. The short play with an elapsed time of 25 minutes was mainly a staggered monologue by the protagonist (a techie mom, Nandhini) in an video chat with a service provider seeking the services of a conventional letter writer, to replace her deceased father-in-law.
I wish Suchi A all the very best as Kaush.