When was the last time I saw a stage drama live?
I do not remember. Maybe, age is taking a toll on my memory, yet I can say with certainty that it is decades since I saw one. So, when Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai hosted a drama festival in mid- October, 2025, I wanted to make the most of it. Sadly due to some pressing commitments, I could make it only on to the first day of the week-long multilingual theatre festival, when Smt. Dharini Komal daughter of late Komal Swaminathan presented ‘Komal Theatres Short Stories on Stage’. The five short stories and their authors included in the presentation were:
- T. Janakiraman’s ‘ Akbar Sastri’
- R. Chudamani – Title not known
- Komal Swaminathan’s ‘Manidha Uravugal’
- Sujatha’s ‘ Kaalai ezhundhavudan oru kolai’
- Indira Parthasarathy’s ‘ Punarabhi jananam punarabi maranam'
It was a bouquet of nice short stories dealing with varied characters and emotions peppered with unexpected twists in some. The performances of the artistes were commendable and elevated the plays to a higher level. One scene lingered in my mind long after the show was over, was a touching scene in ‘ Manidha Uravugal’ where the disappointed mother( played by Dharini Komal) breaks into tears over the telephone when the son (who had settled abroad and had come on a short visit to India) informs that he would be going back to the foreign country after his business meeting and would not be coming home for dinner. Of the characters, ‘Akbar Sastri’ and the overbearing father in Chudamani’s short story stand out.
During the inauguration, acclaimed theatre personality, Shri.Varadarajan was honoured and felicitated.
The other language dramas which were performed during the festival were:
- Andha Yuga – Kannada
- Udhedbun – Hindi
- Bhaag Kodaka Bhaag – Telugu
- Dhrishti – English
- Paap- Bengali
- Koohoo – Malayalam
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