A folk opera of epic characters, song and spectacle: Ensemble cast of NSD students present ‘Indrajit’ in Therukoothu 

NSD students, with no Tamil knowledge, stage Therukoothu play ‘Indrajit’ to great success. 24 students from various states underwent 40-day intensive crash course to learn Tamil and components of Sangam-era form of street theatre. With guidance of Therukoothu thespian, they presented play to gasps of astonishment. Playwright gave glimpse into Ravana's psyche and relationship with son. Play to be staged in Delhi.

‘Indrajit’, a Therukoothu play staged by an ensemble cast of students from the National School of Drama (NSD), featured a lively opera of brightly-costumed characters, high-pitched singing, rollicking rhythm, dialogue and dance.

A remarkable reveal at the tail-end of the evening at the amphitheatre of the Art and Craft Village turned out to be as striking as the two-hour spectacle. There were gasps of astonishment when it was revealed during the curtain call that none in the ensemble knew a word of Tamil.

The group of 24 drama students hailed from States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Kerala. The students had camped in the city for a 40-day intensive crash course to get a grasp of the language and the components of the Sangam-era form of street theatre, to present the play in Tamil.

The students, including 12 girls, underwent rigorous training at a venue near the Bharathiar Palkalikoodam under the watch of Therukoothu thespian Kalaimamani Purisai Kannapa Sambandan, who also directed the play.

Lending instrumental support were Musicians from the Purisai Duraiswami Kannappa Tambiran Parambarai Therukoothu Manram in Purisai, a village in Tiruvannamalai — part of the swathe of land where the Sangam-era street theatre is believed to have originated as an integral feature of Draupadi Amman temple festivals.

“The success of the play wholly owes it to the commitment and effort of the students. They would persist for hours past the rehearsal schedule to get the fundamentals of language of the ‘vasanams’ and ‘adavus’ of the performance right”, said Palani Murugan, assistant director of ‘Indrajit’.

Often, the ‘vasanams’ would be transliterated in English or the students’ mother tongue to approximate the Tamil diction, he added.