THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On an evening in 1975, twenty artists led by a lean man assembled under the big mahogany tree in the premise of Attakulangara Central High School in East Fort. It was the day when the first performance of ‘Avanavan Kadamba’, a play which went on to shape the theatre concept in the country and cemented the name of its creator Kavalam Narayana Panicker in history, was staged. The theme of the play demanded an open auditorium with trees in the background on which lamps were hung.
Theatre in the country had a paradigm shift as ‘Avanavan Kadamba’ conceived by Panicker, and directed by late G Aravindan, did away with the concept of proscenium and picture frame stage, says actor Nedumudi Venu who played the role of ‘pattuparisha’ in the play. To the delight of the crowd from all walks of life the actors soon began taking more space and were seen interacting with the spectators, he said. The play was Panicker’s third after ‘Sakshi’ and ‘Daivatthar’, nevertheless it was the one which got the playwright from Kavalam in Alappuzha engaged with the city. Thiruvananthapuram has a special place in the life of Panicker who wrote and staged many plays and songs in the years to come in the city.
Practice sessions for the play ‘Avanavan Kadamba’ was held at Thanjavoor Amma Veedu at the Fort. From East Fort he had moved the stage to another school in Sasthamangalam. Raja Kesavadas NSS High school located at Sasthamangalam junction became the centre of his creative experiments between 1979 to 1987. Sanskrit plays ‘Karnabharam’, ‘Vikramorvasiyam’ and ‘Shakuntalam’ were staged along with Malayalam plays such as ‘Koyma’, ‘Karimkutty’ etc during this period. For a brief period in 1988 Panicker staged plays at the old Bharat Bhavan at Vellayambalam. Plays ‘Ottayan’ or ‘The Lone Tusker’ and ‘Urughangam’ were produced during this period. The playwright and his band of loyal followers moved back to Sashtamangalam school before going to the suburbs in Thrikannapuram, nine kilometres away from East Fort.
There he stayed at a house near Karamana river. It was here that an adapted version of the Greek legend Prometheus in Malayalam,’Arani’ was born. In 1994 Panicker built his home Harisree at Thrikannapuram. He also built a permanent theatre called ‘Sopanam’ behind the house and he continued with his creative experiments till a few days ago. Panicker, who was known for his ingenious ‘Thanathu Nataka vedi’ in which folk and classical art forms were assimilated, was loved by the city.