KOCHI:A stage filled with lots of action and drama bringing alive the 1876 classic novel 'Tom Sawyer' was recently staged by the Indian School of Acting and Anchoring (ISAA) in. The play held at Public Library Thiruvanathapuram was organised on the occasion of ISAA and its partner company Castalia Activity Centre’s (a school of dance,music and martial arts) fifth Anniversary .
The play was directed by Tiju Thomas Thumpamon where about 50 artists ranging from an age group of 6 to 55 years took part. The background display with LED lights, costumes and performance of actors made the audience travel back to a nineteenth-century era. The performers were a mix of novice experienced and experts from ISAA’s acting school.
The sound quality was outstanding with a professional touch. The play opened with Mark Twain narrating the stories of Tom Sawyer. For one and a half hours the director successfully took the audience on board with a picturesque journey to the tales of Tom Sawyers. The story of Tom Sawyer revolves around two young boys Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The
characters of ‘Tom Sawyer’ was played by Aryan Nair and ‘Huckleberry Finn’ was played by Abhinav Manoj who truly lived the characters and left a permanent impression on the audience.
“Though it was a team of versatile participants the play went well without any noticeable obstructions. The actors have convincingly played the cast,” said Tiju, the director of the play. The audience really enjoyed the scenes of odd trades of Tom Sawyer with his pals. The thrilling experience of resolving the murder mystery of Dr Robinson and Tom dramatically rescuing the innocent Muffpotter from the evil plot of Injinjo was commendable.
The play was supported by a group of talented technical crew. The production was led by Sarita Sreejith and Shanthy Sameer, music by Professor Shijo Philip, choreography by Shamanth Sainalubdeen, Orchestra by Bolshy R S, Sound design by Sunish S Anand (Benson Creations), Lights and sound by Pro Live Av Gears and was supported by Praveen Sopanam, Rajkumr S Iyer, Sanij Thomas and Tintu P Mathews.
On the occasion of the 5th Anniversary of Castalia, eminent members of the Film and Theatre Industry Shankar Ramakrishnan (Writer And Director), Sandip Senan (Film producer of Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum), Pandalam Balan (playback singer), Raja Varier (director and writer), Gireesh Sopanam (Actor), Rahul Riji Nair (Director of Ottamuri Velicham), Krishnan Balakrishnan (Actor), Appu Bhattathiri (Editor) were also honoured.