That full moon night

By: Chandrika Subramaniyan

Theatre World is shrinking around the globe. In particular, Tamil theatre . While diaspora Tamil youth face multiple challenges and find it difficult to focus on Tamil art forms due to various reasons, a group of Tamil youth in association with passionate Athithan Thirunandakumar has chiseled a niche mark with Tamil Theatre in Sydney, not once, but twice. ‘Atrai Thingal Annilavil ‘ meaning ‘ That full moon night ‘ is the second production of Vidhai group, a two-hour nonstop entertainment wrapped with fantasy, story, romance, music, dance, comedy, sentiment all served in one drama enriched with music.

Time, effort, dedication, commitment, and focus have brought together fifty amateur Tamil performers, aged between 8 to 70 to present an unimaginable musical drama on stage at NIDA Auditorium, Sydney.

The concept of Drama is conceived, organised, and shaped by a variety of aspects such as role, character and relationships, situation, voice and movement, space and time, focus, tension, language, ideas, mood, atmosphere, and symbol in the combination. Plot, character, tension, language, and spectacle are vital forms of the elements which provide the basis of any great drama and it is interesting to see how different entertainers use them differently to tell a story staged with a combination of theatre elements.

Athithan , the young physiotherapist has not disappointed as a director and as an actor on the stage. ‘Atrai Thingal Annilavil’ has derived the concept, inspired by the ancient scriptures to develop the plot ‘Man proposes and God disposes of’ , spun the characters around the plot with modernity, added tension to create interest among the spectators, used the language – Tamil without any attachment to accents from any part of the Tamil speaking world, involved the spectacle – made the audience enjoy every minute, created a mood, atmosphere, and symbols acceptable by the Tamil community from any part of the world.

A great drama will demonstrate the ability to speak universal truths that connect cultures from around the world on an interpersonal level. Wherever these stories are spun, they are tales that transcend boundaries because of their humanistic nature. Athithan ’s efforts speak the universal truth ‘the Supreme power disposes of, anything proposed by the humans, combining the interpersonal dialogues between the Supreme and the human, and finally proves that the Supreme power triumphs.

Drama is created when a heightened sense of reality is portrayed through relatable human experience. ‘Atrai Thingal Annilavil ‘ has perfectly accomplished that sense. The plot is composed of “clearly defined problems for characters to solve.” Athithan’s vivid characters provide the motivations for the events of the plot. The theme deals with the slice of life, spiced and seasoned. Playwright has given importance to both narrative and dramatic dialogues which overcome the issues arising from accents or complicated language barriers. The vibrant scenes have given the spectacle, actors, sets, costumes, lights, and sound, empowering the stage with a sense of constant rhythm, leading to a final climax and denouement.

The performers have proven their ability and commitment in every scene. In particular, the senior artist Sri Balan as older Dharma Yuthiran, evil KundavaiSanchana, the main character ever young Dharma Yuthiran – Athithan , the koothu dancer Pandi- Karunakaran, grandma, and ghost — Mrinalini Jayamohan and the comedian Manikkam – Avinash and Indran – Janardhan are unforgettable. Stage management with minimum properties on the stage, the background music , and entertaining and rich movie dance music, fold dance have perfectly entertained the audience.

The director while thanking the audience acknowledged the young, talented nextgeneration Tamil youth whose dedication and interest have made this effort a grand success. Yes, Vidhai made every spectator impressed and convinced, ‘a worthy show ‘ and we wish the Vidhai team great success in all future endeavors.