CHENNAI: The Madras Players are presenting an original stage adaptation of R Chudamani’s short stories at the Egmore Museum Theatre. City Express has a chat with Nikhila Kesavan, actor, director and committee member of the group about the national premiere of the play and on how she articulated the theatre adaptation of the short stories.
As a person who cannot read and write Tamil, Nikhila says that the translation of Chudamani’s stories by Justice (Retd) Prabha Sridevan, came in handy to understand the essence of the stories. “I should thank Prabha for the translation. That was the doorway which led me to this amazing Tamil writer and I am glad that I got access to the book,” she narrates. “Though director P C Ramakrishnan often used to tell me about the works of Chudamani, reading her words has created an impact.”
Timeless stories with unconventional characters and themes make Chudamani and her stories unique. “What’s special about the stories is the inherent dramatic quality! We picked up seven stories — four from Prabha’s translated book Seeing in the dark and three from the original Tamil stories for which Prabha did an exclusive translation,” she goes on. “After reading the stories, especially that of a blind father who comes to know of a secret affair that his daughter is having, was the defining moment for me to do the adaptation.”
A Trace of Envy, Bhuvana and the Star Sign, He came as a Guest, The Visitor, Seeing in the Dark, The Fourth Stage of Life, Tirumanjanam and The Image will be the seven stories that are stringed together into one dramatic tribute to Chudamani. “I decided to give Chudamani different characters in the play…in one she’ll be a narrator, in the other a listener who derives the story from the characters, in the next she’ll be an actor and part of the story herself… she’s the one who’ll make the seven short stories cohesive,” says Nikhila.
Having done adaptations of novels such as Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone, Jhumpa Lahiri’s A Temporary Matter, Tunnel Vision by Shandana Minhas, and Manu Joseph’s Serious Men, she says that working on the adaptation for short stories was a new experience. “Putting together different stories was a task, but an enjoyable experience. Every word in the play will be from Prabha’s translation and not a single word has been added.”
All stories written from 1970s to 90s, Nikhila wishes the play had materialised before Chudamani’s death in 2010. “I wish we had done it earlier. But, I am glad that we are doing this at least now!” she shares. The troupe is also planning to take the play to other cities like Bengaluru. “We are excited about the possibility, but we would like to do more shows in Chennai and especially in the Tamil sabhas in December. After all, Chudamani has been a huge part of the Tamil literary world and is a pride of Chennai!”
The Madras players will be staging ‘Chudamani’ at Museum heatre, Egmore at 7:15pm on Sep 23, 24 and 25.
For details, call: 9381911977