It was in the 1980s that renowned theatre script writer Marina staged the play Oor Vambu through his drama troupe Rasiga Ranga. Now, three decades later, the play packed with humour was staged here recently at the 21st Chithirai Nataka Vizha organised by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, one of the oldest sabhas in Chennai. The 10-day event witnessed many olden-day Tamil plays, each in a different genre.
Every year at its inauguration, the sabha presents the ‘Nataka Choodamani’ award to a theatre personality of the highest repute. This year film director K Balachander, who inaugurated the drama fest, presented the award to well-known playwright Vitenam Veedu Sundaram. The ‘Poornam New Theatres Rolling Trophy’ was presented for the best drama troupe of the year 2013 to ‘Mali Stage’.
In this 21st Chithirai Nataka Vizha one play that cannot be forgotten by theatre fans, Oor Vambu scripted by Marina, was staged. The play not only made the audience laugh but also brought back memories of earlier times for many fans.
Marina, whose real name is T S Sridharan, was born in 1925. He worked at Tamil weekly magazine Ananda Vikatan as a cartoonist and also wrote under the pseudonym Bharanidharan. He is famous for his autobiographical sketch, Chinna Vayadhinile.
His interest in stage plays came through his father. In 1979 he started his own theatre group called Rasiga Ranga, along with friends and co-artists such as Vittal Rao and Bobji Swaminathan among others.
His play Oor Vambu was staged in the 1980s with artists like Poornam Viswanathan, who later went on to earn a name through their performances. The two main characters of the play always poke their nose into the family issues of others. This causes a lot of problems to their own families and how they got relief from those problems forms the plot of the play. The play is packed with good humour and the main characters Aiyya Samy and Kamala Maami cannot be forgotten by fans.
After seeing the play one fan told City Express, “The drama recalls one’s days in a typical Bhraminical family. The characters and stage settings take the audience to a village in Thiruvidaimarudhur, again a typical Bhraminical village.”
One of the lead actors of the play said, “The play has been staged after some 30 years. Earlier the play was staged more than 60 times all across the nation.” This 90-minute play has one interval.
Other noted plays like Pillaiyar Pidika penned by Kathadi Ramamurthy and Thanneer Thanneer scripted by Komal Swaminathan were staged during this 10-day Chithirai Nataka Vizha.