The past few days have been the ones that have gladdened the hearts of theatre aficionados with the huge public interest generated by the ongoing North Zone Amateur Drama competition providing ample proof that theatre is still alive and kicking.
At a time when cinema houses in the city struggle to draw viewers, the theatre fest has succeeded in filling, not only the seats of the Town Hall, but also the standing space at the venue, with many people coming in an hour in advance to ensure that they have the best seats in the house.
This interest has not only heartened both the organisers and participants but also the neutral theatre lover. “The Town Hall has a capacity of more than 300 but we have had around 450 people coming and watching the plays on each of the first four days.
It indeed is a pleasure to see so many people interested in theatre,” said K R Mohandas, who worked behind the scenes of the event and whose play ‘The Last Chair’ was staged on the second day of the event.
He added that Kozhikode always received dramas well and that number of audience for the performances augured well for the future of the artform. “I have always thought that the interest in dramas never diminished. It is just that the number of dramas being staged lessened significantly.
The public attention that the event has received is completely justified because all the dramas staged as part of the event have been of very high quality and the sets that they have used are very complex,” he said.