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Mythology on stage

‘Gayopakhyam’, an eternal mythological play, was staged at Thyagaraya Gana Sabha.



Popular fare A scene from the play Gayopakhyam

Gayopakhyanam is considered as one of eternal plays written by Chilakamarthi Lakshmi Narasimham more than 100 years ago. This as a mythological verse play that is said to be has been a most popular production of the times. The play, staged by C.S.R. Kalamandir at Thyagaraya Gana Sabha last week, also marked a book release function. Unfortunately, the play was seriously edited and the last parts of Krishnarjuna Yudham were abandoned, as the time given for holding functions has been restricted to 8.30 p.m. only.

Kotte Venkatacharylu played the role of Gayudu. Jayalakshmi played Gayudu’s wife. Vanam Sankarayya played the role of Narada impressively. Akella Prabhakara Sarma as Balarama, S.V. Krishna as Satyaki, Sriramulu Naidu in the prime role of Srikrishna, also acquitted themselves well. The verse rendition was greatly supported by harmonium artiste Venugopalachari.
Book released

The book titled Gayopakhyanamu -Chilakamarthy Kavitha Vaibhavam by Kotte Venkatacharyulu was released by Dr. C. Narayana Reddy. Film actor T.L. Kanta Rao inaugurated the function that was presided over by Prof. Ravva Srihari. Bittu Venkateswarlu, head of the department of Theatre arts, Telugu University, spoke of the contents of the book. Samala Venu who organised the function, artistes Vanam Sankarayya and Sriramulu Naidu were warmly felicitated.