THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Biblical King David and his lover Bathsheba have told us a lot about love and what a loveless marriage could be. Classic playwright C J Thomas, adapted the story to write ‘Aa Manushyan Nee Thanne’ (Thou Art The Man), one of his most important plays. Natyagriham, a city based theatre group will perform the play as a tribute to the playwright on his birth centenary.
“The play has biographical elements of the playwright. It was rarely staged despite being an influential work of Thomas,” says chairman of Natyagriham, Aliyar. ‘Aa Manushyan Nee Thanne’, an untimely love story between David and Bethsaba to be staged at VJT Hall on Wednesday evening is a play adapted from the work of Thomas.
“Circumstances made David a king. The play shows his inner conflict that resulted from a clash of personal interest and of a king,” says the play director S Sajana Chandran. He is a senior officer at Air Traffic Control at the airport here and plays the role of King David.
The king falls in love with a young Bathsheba who happens to be the wife of his loyal soldier Uriah. He tries to save her from the law of the land for loving a person outside marriage and ends up killing Uriah. Playwright Thomas packed the play with powerful dialogues that make us think about loveless marriage, worthlessness of power and blind belief on leaders. According to Sajana Chandran, the dialogues give a ‘Shakespearian touch’ to the play and make the theme universal.
The director has made minor modifications to the 90 minutes play to match the taste of present generation. The play ends with a punch, he says.
Malu S Lal plays the role of Bathsheba and M K Gopalakrishnan is the prophet. S Mohan, Ayyappan, Suresh Nair, Rajanand, Vijayan Nair, Venkitesh, Lisy Babu, R Rajendran, Akhil, R V Prasad, S Sreekala, Ajay and Jameela Mohandas essay other roles in the play. Hasim Amaravila (music), Pradeep Ayiropara (art) and Sasi Poojapura (costume) gave a Semitic touch to the performance.
Natyagriham is celebrating its 36th anniversary. Minister Kadakampally Surendran will inaugurate the commemorative event that precedes the performance. Writer George Onakoor will deliver the keynote address.
Quotes:
Circumstances made David a king. The play shows his inner conflict that resulted from a clash of personal interest and of a king - S Sajana Chandran, play director