Perch, Chennai presents 'Ki Ra Kozhambu' (duration: 1hr 15 min), a storytelling performance in Tamil, Hindi and English based on folk tales by Ki Rajanarayanan performed by Iswar Srikumar, Malavika P.C. and Anand Sami.
Created in association with Anushka Meenakshi
Costumes Kaveri Lalchand
Directed by Rajiv Krishnan
On Saturday, September 4th and Sunday, September 5th, 2010 at 7.30 pm at 'Skills', No. 1, Elliots Beach Road, Besant Nagar. A PERFORMANCE FOR ALL AGES. CHILDREN ARE VERY WELCOME! For details contact +91 9841513699/ +91 98410 99435
Ki. Rajanarayanan:
Ki. Rajanarayanan (popularly known as Ki Ra) was born in Idaicheval Chathirapatti village near Kovilpatti in 1922. His full name is 'Rayangala Shri Krishna Raja Narayana Perumal Ramanujam Naicker' . He dropped out of school in the seventh standard. He was appointed as a professor of folklore at Pondicherry University in the '80's. He continues to live and write in Pondicherry.
Ki. Ra.'s first first published short story was Mayamaan (lit. The Magical Deer), which came out in 1958. It was an immediate success. It was followed by many more short stories. Ki Ra's stories are usually based in karisal kaadu (the scorched, drought stricken land around Kovilpatti). He center's his stories around the lives of the people in this land, their lives, beliefs, struggles and folklore. The novels Gopalla Grammam (lit. Gopalla Village) and its sequel Gopallapurathu Makkal (lit. The People of Gopallapuram) are among his most acclaimed; he won the Sahitya Akademi award for the latter in 1991.
The Group – Perch, Chennai
Perch is an active theatre group based in Chennai gaining in recognition in the last three years. The idea of Perch came into being in 2006 when it organised a fortnight long festival called 'Angloscapes' that focused on the Anglo-Indian community and included a play, a food festival, film screenings, a photo exhibition and a music concert. Perch was formally registered as a society in 2008. It organised an ambitious three week long festival called 'Under the Mangosteen Tree' to commemorate the centenary year of the great Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammad Basheer in January 2008. Since then, parts of the festival and the two plays 'Moonshine and Skytoffee' and 'Sangathi Arinhya! (have you heard!)' that were part of it have travelled to Rangashankara, Bangalore, Ninasam, Heggodu, the Basheer festival organised by Mathrubhumi in Kozhikode, Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai and National Theatre Festivals in N. Delhi and Trivandrum. In 2010, Perch staged a play 'Kira Kozhambu', a storytelling performance in Tamil, Hindi and English based on the folk tales of the eminent Tamil writer, Ki. Rajanarayanan. Kira Kozhambu has completed 15 shows in Chennai and Pondicherry in alternative spaces like schoolgrounds, community halls and under Banyan trees as well as more conventional theatre spaces. It's second play this year,' Ms. Meena' was commissioned for The Hindu Metroplus Festival 2010 and jointly supported by The Hindu Metroplus, The Goethe Institut/Max Muller Bhavan, Chennai and Prohelvetia- The Swiss Arts Council. Ms. Meena has already been staged at Ranga Shankara, Bangalore and in Chennai.
More information here.
