THIRUVANATHAPURAM: ‘Problem Play’ was a relatively unexplored territory in Malayalam literature when N Krishna Pillai penned his dramas in the middle of the last century. But his female-centric plays had women who broke conventions to voice a new sensibility, those who were modelled on Ibsen’s ‘new woman’. A three-day drama festival is being organised by the N Krishna Pillai Foundation, Nanthancode, to mark the 94 birth anniversary of the playwright. Ex-MP Thennala Balakrishna pillai will inaugurate a museum dedicated to Krishna Pillai’s memory as part of the anniversary.
On Monday, the inaugural day, the programmes will be flagged off with a play reading, where, ‘Bhagna Bhavanam’, considered to be the magnum opus of the author, will be read out by artists. The drama festival will be inaugurated by G Balamohan Thampy at 5.30 pm, which will be followed by the museum inauguration. Actor Madhu, poet O N V Kurup and others will participate. At 7 pm, ‘Kudathile Vilakku’, a play by Krishna Pillai, will be staged.
“We have chosen for stage production a drama that has a female character closely moulded on the lines of ‘Dora’ of Ibsen’s ‘Ghost House’,” says S Radhakrishnan, Director of All India Radio’s training institute and the director of the play.
“It shows how different the play is compared to the overly melodramatic writing of his age.” The central character, Parvathy Amma, is a woman who realises late in life that her sacrifices as a woman have been for worthless causes. But her resilience to start life anew by finding a job to sustain herself was a revolutionary thought when it was conceived almost half a century back.
The second day will have cultural programmes, poetry readings and the staging of G Sankara Pillai’s play, ‘Gurudakshina’ at 7 pm.
The last day will again have a reading of Krishna Pillai’s play, ‘Kanyaka’, a pioneering effort in feminist writing, at 4 pm. The official meeting to mark the anniversary will be begin at 5.30 pm and will be inaugurated by Revenue Minister K P Rajendran. O N V Kurup, Sugatha Kumari, Puthusserry Ramachandran and others will attend. The Minister will also release a biography of the playwright written by Ezhattoor Rajaraja Varma. The day will conclude with the staging of a play by Pirappancode Murali at 7 pm.
trivandrum@expressbuzz.com