THRISSUR : As the faithful across the world go through a week of prayers and religious ceremonies ahead of Easter, a kathakali performance made a difference at the Thrissur Regional Theatre on Wednesday. Marking a departure from the traditional performances based on Hindu mythology and epics, Aangikam Cultural Centre, Vandur, came up with Da Vinci Porul, an adaptation on Last Supper, the immoral painting by Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci.
The performance began with Magdelana Mariyam (Mary Magdalene) sharing her emotions as people started talking ill about her and Jesus Christ. Though Magdelana Mariyam in traditional attire of kathakali is an unusual spectacle, the perfection in mudras and movements, accompanied by the captivating kathakali music, made it a remarkable performance, inviting the attention of the spectators.
Radha Madhavan, who has written about 18 attakathas, penned Da Vinci Porul. It was Francis Kodankandath, an international artist, who came up with the idea of an attakatha based on the Last Supper.
Francis has completed a series of 12 paintings decoding the Last Supper by Da Vinci. He unveiled the secret of Holy Mass, which Dan Brown had misinterpreted in his book and created a controversy. Francis decoded the Last Supper through a geometrical perspective which was appreciated by the Catholic Church.
“When Francis Kodankandath approached me to write a script for a kathakali performance based on Last Supper, I was concerned about how to begin with it. What all characters should I bring on stage, and similar thoughts never ended. I went on thinking for days about it and never got a satisfactory answer.
But one day, around 2 in the morning, I got a clue how to go about it. Even world renowned artist Da Vinci would have thought the same way when he did Last Supper. I began writing the attakatha at that point,” Radha said.
The adaptation with three scenes not only elevated the divinity in Last Supper as an art work, but also conveyed the true message. When Jesus Christ appears in the second scene of the kathakali, the song starts with ‘Mariman Mizhiyale.....’ describing Magdelana Mariyam.
“As kathakali would be a bit difficult for all spectators to understand in its real essence, we provided them with a note about each scene and how the story unfolds,” shared Francis.
Kathakali maestro Sadanam Balakrishnan Asan has directed the performance. The artists worked for almose over a year e to make the play a reality.