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A telling in faith

Shraddha, as part of the NSD festival, was an engaging production

Panchamukhi Nataka Sangha headed by Vinayaka Joshi recently, performed Srinivas Vaidya’s short story “Shraddha” recently, at Rangashankara as part of the NSD Festival. The play won the Thespo award last year. |This beautiful story i s about a father and a son, who communicate with each other, through the mother. And most conversations are about their everyday affairs.

In execution, the play is a simple and well-mixed display of theatrical arts – movement, dance, music and lights.
Simple stage

The stage setting was simple, with a running rostrum at the back of the stage, a pillar and two small platforms at the sides of the stage. The execution was impressive. The dialogues could have been much crisper.

One of the interesting elements of the plays is the depiction of the crow. One of the actors dons the garb of a crow and flies down to remind the son of the father from time to time. Right at the beginning of the play, one knows that the father is long gone. The son, Seena, builds a neat picture of his father by recounting tales of his antics as a child, in school, in the front yard, failing math. After all the stories, the son wonders if that is in fact the best way of paying homage to someone, through memories.
Four in one

Why are there four actors to play the role of Seena the son? This somehow doesn’t coalesce into the structure of the play.

Was each actor depicting Seena in his different ages? Look closely, this is not really true, all the four actors are involved in the storytelling throughout the play. This did create confusion, but managed to create great energy in the play. All the actors managed to retain the energy in the play.

The music is worth mentioning. The live singing and drums by Karthik and Ganesh added character to the story.

When the play ends, you are longing for more.