Thespian plots play against drug abuse among youth

According to him, the play is an eye-opener for parents. His own experience as a former government health inspector made him pursue the subject of addiction in the play.
Thespian plots play against drug abuse among youth

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After hearing many stories of youth becoming victims of drug addiction, veteran thespian Meenambalam Santhosh came up with his latest production Ma Visayi, Say No To Poison. The short play written by Rajeev Gopalakrishnan and directed by Santhosh will be performed at stages across the state next month.

Santhosh decided to portray the insidious after-effects of narcotics when he came across the book Before It Is Too Late by Rishi Raj Sigh — the former Director-General of Kerala Police and an ardent anti-narcotics fighter.

According to him, the play is an eye-opener for parents. His own experience as a former government health inspector made him pursue the subject of addiction in the play. “Take a look at the drug-addicted youth — some become criminals to support their vices. Even youth from financially sound families turn to drugs due to poor family support. Academic and peer pressures play a huge role in drug addiction.

Children must be allowed to follow their dreams and not that of their parents. That will help mitigate the situation to some extent,” says Santhosh. “The play will be performed in six languages — Malayalam, Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Tamil and Kannada — by theatre artists well-versed in them,” he adds.

The play is based on the story of well educated working parents who force their artistically brilliant daughter to pursue a professional course. Upset, the youngster ends up becoming addicted to drugs.

“The book penned by Rishi Raj Sigh moved me. I came across many shocking cases of drug addiction among youngsters from him. That’s how I decided on the title — Ma means no and Visayi means poison. The play will be performed next month and I plan to associate with the state government for taking it to schools and colleges as part of social awareness,” says Santhosh.

As part of the launch of the play and its ehearsal on the International Theatre Day, cultural activist Soorya Krishnamoorthi rendered an ani drug oath written by port K Satchidanandan on Sunday at Thycaud. The play will be produced by Thiruvananthapuram based production house Aksharakala.

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