‘Plays a Cultural Bulwark against Western Invasion’

‘Plays a Cultural Bulwark against Western Invasion’

THRISSUR: The seventh edition of the International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK), which is entering its fourth day on Tuesday, has been drawing theatre enthusiasts in large numbers, while the colloquium with theatre artists and scholars organised as part of the theatre festival are also providing fresh experience and information for theatre buffs in the state.

Lebanon filmmaker Junaid Sarieddeen, who took part in the meet organised as part of the fest,  said the Zoukak Theatre Company, which is staging three Lebanese plays in the festival, is redefining the theatre-space in the war-torn country by putting up a staunch position against the fundamentalists and fascist forces in the Lebanon ruling dispensation.

“We are on the attempt to retrieve the lost glory of our centuries-old culture, which was ravaged by the invasion of western culture in recent decades.

“The western invasion has also destroyed the cultural unity of the Middle East Asian countries and the Zoukak is acting as a cultural bulwark against this invasion. “The ITFoK has also provided a lot of energy to their fight against the power conflicts in the skies and on earth of the Lebanon,” he said.

Narippata Raju, the moderator of the Theatre discussion organised as part of the fest, said the ITFoK could bring a fresh lease of life to the Malayalam theatre sector as a whole with the authorities showcasing the renowned and acclaimed world theatre production in the state.

Reguthaman, one of the founders of the Abhinaya Reserch Centre, said the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akedmi should provide a touring theatre for the theatre groups in the state to visit various parts of the country and stage their powerful theatre productions.

C R Rajan, a theatre activist who took part in the discussion, said though the International Theatre Festival of Kerala has succeeded in drawing new generation theatre buffs to the festival, it has failed to impress the senior theatre enthusiasts.

It should explore ways to attract all kinds of drama-goers and new theatre groups of Kerala to the fest, he said.  At one point of time, the focus of the discussion was completely turned to the problems plaguing the Akademi.

The discussion also exhorted the organisers to find ways to address the shortcomings in the conduct of the fest and set up a mechanism to address the issues relating to the conduct of  the festival. On Monday, four plays were staged at the festival.

Thevarude Aana’ by Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, ‘Mahabharata’ by Hiroshi Koike, Japan, ‘The Island’ by The Freedom Theatre and ‘Palestine and Avudi’ by Ardha Matra, New Delhi, were different in their narrative styles and powerful in presentation.

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