Koothu-P-Pattarai

ON COMPLETION OF THE 30 GLORIOUS YEARS KOOTHU-P-PATTARAI PRESENTS ‘TENALI RAMAN’

ABOUT TENALI RAMAN:

Tenali Raman is popularly known as Vikata Kavi, a court jester, who lived during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya (1509 – 1529) of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas, one of the eight pillars of the Vijayanagara Court. Tenali Raman was known for his acute wit, intelligence, shrewdness and ingenuity. In the court of Krishnadeva Raya he often found himself in precarious situations but always escaped unscathed through his resourcefulness.

Tenali Raman was also known as a poet in Telugu language. Scholars consider his famous work Panduranga Mahatmyam as one among the Pancha Kavyas, the five great books of Telugu Literature.

In south India Tenali Raman’s stories have become part of folklore for the past 500 years.

AUTHORS NOTE:

Koothu-P-Pattarai spends all of its time and energies in trying to create an actor of superior quality. As I spend all my time with actors, some of their finest moments have remained with me. When I write a play, those finer moments of an actor come alive in my consciousness. When an actor is handed over the script, and when he reads it, the dialogues of a character sound just as being read and all the subtleties of speech seem lost.
Once, when I was talking to Mr N C Jain, prominent theatre personality of New Delhi, he said that this dilemma existed in Hindi also. Similarly during a discussion with Mr Anmol Vellani, Director of India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore, I expressed the view that when theatre dialogues are endowed with poetic quality they smack of artificiality. He exclaimed, “So try to find out the poetic quality in everyday conversations”.
Thus when I wrote Tenali Raman, I made a conscious effort to see that the dialogues did not sound pedantic, but had the quality of everyday speech about them. In this manner I feel that I have carried out an experiment writing Tenali Raman.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE:

Tenali Raman stories are known wherever tales are told. Mr N Muthuswamy’s retelling of the story of Tenali Raman differs from the usual mode in that it has been written in his own unique style. We have tried our best to interpret and present the script in the same spirit. This is the first play that I am directing for Koothu-P-Pattarai. I am sure this play will entertain adults and children alike.

Performance Dates: 05.06.2008 to 15.06.2008

Time:	7.00 pm every day
Venue:	Koothu-P-Pattarai Trust No.1, Vaikasi Street, Chinmaya Nagar, Stage-2, Virugambakkam, Chennai – 600 092

Donor pass: Rs 30, Will be available at venue.

For telebooking contact Devi @: 044 – 65373633 / 9941446543

Note: Free entrance for children below 10 years.

EVENTS PLANNED FOR THE LATER PART OF THE YEAR:

September 2008

“Arjunan Thapasu”

Written by: N. Muthuswamy

To be directed by: Anmol Vellani

January 2009

“Blood Wedding”

Written by: Garcia Lorca

To be directed by: Edilson and Irani Cippiciani of Caldeirao group, Brazil

KOOTHU-P-PATTARAI