THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Theatre Academy for Media and Arts (THAMP) is organising a children’s theatre festival on Sunday at Ganesham Auditorium, Thycaud. It will feature three plays — Kuruvi Paranja Katha, Not Only But Also and Arikunjan — that are an outcome of a two-month students’ camp organised by the centre at Peroorkada.
The children’s theatre productions are being helmed by the founder and director of THAMP Rajesh Chandran, and faculty member of the School of Drama Thrissur, Shyam Reji. The children aged between 11 and 16, who were part of the ‘Kuttikoodaram’ summer camp, will don various roles in the plays. “Most of them are government school students from urban areas,” says Shyam.
“They have an ardent passion for theatre, which is a waning tradition in the age of modern technology. From the 200-strong batch, we selected 14 actors for the plays. The present batch of students were proactive and have done all the heavy departments of the theatre fest, including props, costumes and music.”
The plays are based on social issues, including the Arikomban saga. ‘Arikunjan’, for instance, takes a swipe at modern media. “It focuses on how certain media houses sensationalise certain issues like Arikomban’s case to increase their ratings,” says Shyam.