Shot+Sweet South India Theater Festival presents a good mix of serious and comedy plays

The 11th edition of Short+Sweet South India Theater Festival was presented by Prakriti Foundation in association with Alliance Francaise and Blue Lotus Foundation. The line-up consisted of 10 plays, which were a good mix of serious and comedy plays. The plays showed how you could make good theater with a few props. And of course, they proved that small can be sweet. The audience’s interest never waned due to the quick changes in theme.

From MotherWhich depicts the anxiety of a mother who is unable to handle the pressure of motherhood. , Photo Credit: Courtesy: Nature Foundation

first play Mother The anxieties of Meera, who is unable to handle the pressures of motherhood, are depicted. His depression begins to reach the extent of dislike towards his child. Raji, a single mother of adult children, tells him that it is natural for a mother to have negative thoughts about her child when she is nervous. The message of the story is that until society starts viewing child-rearing as a joint responsibility, new mothers will continue to feel anxious.

From oru sunflower story, Photo Credit: Courtesy: Nature Foundation

In oru sunflower storyThe hero is confused, he does not understand what gift he should choose for his girlfriend, who has strange tastes. For example, she chooses a gray dress, not because she likes the color, but because very few people choose gray, and she doesn’t want the color to feel left out! One of the characters in the play was Chatgpt. To show that Chatgpt is trying to solve the protagonist’s problem, Shubh Mukherjee twisted his body and distorted his face.

intention It was about a woman’s pain of being used and cast aside and ultimately her self-realization. In Manda Bathiram Three siblings set out in search of their father, who is aptly named ‘Running Ravi’, as he runs away from responsibility. His head and torso, which were separated by a witch’s magic, are put back together through another magic. The play was well staged, with a headless torso moving and the head rotating on a table.

Dabba Nadagam Stand out for its well-synchronized movements imitating rowing a boat. , Photo Credit: Courtesy: Nature Foundation

Dabba Nadagam It featured some fully synchronized moves that mimicked rowing a boat and the pitch of the boat. In ‘Mother, May INeela communicates with her dead mother through a tree. Falling leaves and crows’ calls are taken as signs of approval or disapproval. Finally, Neela understood the reason and decided to cut the apron strings.

a souvenir The two actors were a joy to watch together. , Photo Credit: Courtesy: Nature Foundation

Drama a souvenir, With two actors, was hilarious. Balaji (Sadasivam) decides to propose Dolly (Mritika) in a unique way, and hides the ring in a lobster, in the hope that she will find it. But she eats lobster and doesn’t pay attention to the ring. Balaji told him that he would have to use a stomach pump to remove the ring. He reassures his worried girlfriend that the stomach pump is like a vacuum cleaner, and there’s no need to be afraid. How she turns the tables on him is the twist in the story. The couple’s playful mischief was a joy to watch.

In a song on online datingPreeti is single and thirty years old, which she finds to be a tragic combination. Will online dating yield anything interesting? She decides to find out, with consequences she couldn’t have imagined. He is forced to take help from a therapist. The story was beautifully told through folk tunes. Preeti realizes that romance is not a joke and never has been. A song in the play consoles him to the tune of MGR’s song ‘Andru vandduum adhe travam, indru vanddum adhe travam’ (It’s the same travma now as it was then).

The plays were a testament to the creativity of the screenwriters, directors and actors and each play was unique, with no repetition of ideas. But the voice projection of most of the actors was very poor. If they cannot project their voice then they should use a mic. It is not appropriate to let the audience construct a story based on what they can hear and fill in the blanks as best they can. The actors were fortunate to have an engaged and supportive audience, who enjoyed both the humor and the serious message.