Pāthēyam | A Gripping Performance | Today | St. Thomas’s Hall ❤️

Pāthēyam | A Gripping Performance

Today | St. Thomas’s Hall

Kudos to Ms. Lindsay and her team on their stellar performance today, at St. Thomas’s Hall Indoor Theatre, under the banner, Ottappaathrathhile Njandukal, for their directorial venture titled, Pāthēyam.

The performance is a stage adaptation of the legendary Parayi Petta Panthirukulam, drawn from Kottarathil Shankunni’s monumental compilation of folklore, Aithihyamala.

It is indeed quite heartwarming to see such engaging folk narratives transitioning alive onto the stage space!

The Parayi Petta Panthirukulam is a story that fundamentally challenges social hierarchies and speaks to a deep, underlying unity.

Each of the actors did their parts with such ease and excellence. Be it the songs, the proverbial breaking of the fourth wall, or the music, the actors did their parts with such felicity!

A special word of appreciation on the highly evocative nature of the flyer! Set against the beautiful hills and a river, the flyer focalises on the pothichoru - the traditional meal packed in a banana leaf, resting on the ground, with a trail of ants marching toward it. Woww!

The image in the flyer bespeaks to the title as well - Pāthēyam, which translates to “provisions for a journey.”

It was a memorable play, and thanks a lot to Mr. Rennie and Ms. Ranjitha for coordinating the excellent videography, thus making it a memory that’s got to be cherished for long!!!

A special note of appreciation goes to the vibrant Convenor, Dr. David Wesley, and the talented members of Ottappaathrathhile Njandukal for bringing this slice of the Aithihyamala from the page to the stage in such a grand manner! 

TheatrEyrie Welcomes You... ❤️

 

7th February 2026

Greetings!

TheatrEyrie, the theatre wing of the Department of English (Aided), Madras Christian College, is celebrating its completion of ten years with an intercollegiate Theatre Competition on 17.02.2026 and a one-day Theatre Workshop on 18.02.2026.

As part of the Intercollegiate Theatre Competition (17.02.2026), we invite teams from colleges to take part and celebrate theatre with us. Do participate and win exciting prizes.

The registration form for the Competition

https://forms.gle/bkXJkpNuKevgQmt39

The following day (18.02.2026), we also have a one-day Theatre Workshop.

Please register for the same. Looking forward to your presence.

The registration form for the Workshop

https://forms.gle/htFHYzgackfhmqSk6

'Polly, why do you think a girl gets married?'

The Threepenny Opera | @ WCC

6.30 pm | Today

A Review

#theatre

Staging a Brechtian play is no easy joke!

It requires an enormous degree of ‘dialectical’ prowess from the director’s part, to realise on stage - the ‘epical’ in Brecht!

Hats off to the Director and the crew of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, who gave the audience a mind-boggling performance that lasted for almost two full hours at Women’s Christian College, Chennai, this evening.

WCC has always carved a niche for themselves in the realm of theatre. Added feather to their cap for their disciplined devotion to punctuality!

Although the intermittent rains were busy playing spoilsport right from afternoon till late into the night today, and the city roads were quite comfortably inundated ‘as usual’, all along, the theatre enthusiasts in the city turf were in full attendance sharp at 6.30 pm right in time for the Prologue!

And the play started sharp at 6.30 pm, as usual!

Like Brecht who always believed in having workers, amateur artists and students as his actors, for his proletariat theatre, today’s actors who formed part of the play, The Threepenny Opera, were also current students of WCC, who stole the show and our hearts as well, with their scintillating performance on stage.

Some of the characters like Mackie the Knife, or Matt (Neha Varghese?) or Polly (Gayathri Sai Krishnan?), were acted out with such an amazing ‘reality of representation’, and well, the craziest of claps from the audience were reserved for the character of Smith, who did his (her) performance in such hilarious ways.

The lighting, was much akin to a Brechtian theatrical!

To Brecht, the stage was to be flooded with harsh white light – light that was fully visible to the audience, just to remind the spectators that they are watching a play!

Added, much of the characteristics that form a part of epic acting, and epic designing, the Brechtian style, were also faithfully followed in the staging of the play.

And the dialogues were also ‘epical’ in their import!

Sample this –

Peachum: Polly, why do you think a girl gets married?

Polly: To have children?

Peachum: Nope! To get divorced! [emphasising on the rising divorces during her time]

Almost every character essayed their roles with such elegance and confidence; and although Mack, Polly, Lucy, Smith and a host of other major characters were the cynosure of all eyes, to me, the character who acted Jackie “Tiger” Brown, London’s chief of Police, will be my favourite!

And with a reason at that!

Well, you see, Brown’s characterisation demands a double bind in his (her) very demeanour!

He’s got to exemplify on himself a deep dilemma – since he is confused between the duties demanded of his position, and his loyalties to his close friend – something that the character essayed so remarkably well, in his acting!

The Director who spoke last, appreciated WCC for staging ‘almost’ its hundredth play.

Dr. Lillian Jasper, Principal, Women’s Christian College, then gave the formal vote of thanks.

PS: Exactly ten years ago, on this self-same month, in September 2013, we had the pleasure and the privilege of watching two plays at the same venue, directed by the legendary Dr. P. Rajani, Former Professor of English, MCC.

You may want to read a review of the plays on our past blog post HERE!

'Bronson arranged his characters for the eye, his story for the judgment, and his speeches for the ear!'

Howard’s Realism | Art for Sincerity’s Sake!

Bronson Howard comes next in line in our deliberations on realism in American drama.

Well, Bronson Howard has a string of firsts to his credit, that merits a firsty-fiesty highlight right at the start to this Bronson-post!

Howard – Bronson Howard – happens to be the first playwright ever to typecast the wealthy American businessman in his plays.

Howard – Bronson Howard – also takes credit for being the first American playwright to theorise on the playwriting process. This apart, he is also the first playwright to have his themes, his settings and his characters that were uniquely American in every way!

Howard’s melodrama in the backdrop of the Civil War titled, Shenandoah, happens to be his most famous play. And much akin to Herne and Howells, Howard also has his manifesto so beautifully spelled out!

Titled, The Autobiography of a Play, this manifesto was originally delivered as a lecture, by Howard at Harvard! [to the Shakespeare Club of Harvard University!]

'Selfie' @ Anna Adarsh College, Chennai!

It was a pioneering and one-of-its-kind production from the Department of English, Anna Adarsh College for Women, Anna Nagar, Chennai. Titled, 'SELFIE,' the play was directed by Mathivanan Rajendran & Nikhil Kedia.

The setting was perfect to a tee, at the Parmadevi Goyal Auditorium, and there was pin-drop silence as the theatre-beings walked on to the stage, with a chorus of HASHTAGS, beginning with, ‘THE SHOW STARTS NOW’ and a string of hashtag echoes to different tunes on stage.

Problems of all hues and colours beset a group of college students even as they gear up to face a future filled with grave uncertainties, turmoil, problems and challenges. But, the major problem with them all is that, they were all worried that they weren’t that good enough! Not that presentable type, which the world wants! Parallel screams on similar tunes echo to a different beat all across the stage.

‘I doubt myself! I don’t look good. What will people think of me’

‘I’m so conscious of my imperfections that I arrive early and disappear into the background.’

The girls are a harried lot as a diet high on calories makes them obese. The higher the cost, the higher the calories. So yes! Does your cuppa cost you Rupees Thirty? Then you’ve got 300 calories for takes!

Mom says, “It’s what on the inside that matters! But it’s actually ugly that comes from the inside. Beauty is from the outside. Yes, it is!” screams a voice, disgruntled and perturbed with each passing day. 

To another girl, it’s a different tune, when she says, “I just don’t want to end up with the thoughts of ending up with nobody!”

To yet another girl, “As I see it, the word SeLFIE is just two letters away from the word selfish!”

The extent to which the digital has swayed the characters is shown through numerous examples. One such shot –

Is this seat taken?

Is this seat taken?

You… adiye you…

No! not at all!

Bespeaks to the linguistic crossfertilisation of the theatrical enterprise which had rapturous applause to every vibrant tune of the performers on stage!

A girl, who gets drunk along with her friends at a party, forgetfully posts her pictures in an inebriated condition on social media, and then regrets the same. She then ruminates,

‘Once you send something on social media, there’s no possibility of taking it back!

You know what! How much I would love to bury my face under a blanket!

Until one day we exist in the clouds… Hungry for answers!

Bonding with Ruskin @ Chennai

"Bonding With Ruskin"

as a part of the Chettinad Sarvalokaa Festival!

A living legend's words laced with music & movement - we recreate the innocence of Ruskin Bond’s stories on stage through story-telling techniques and music.

Bring your family to Rani Seethai Hall on December 8, 2017 and enjoy!

About the play:

The Play which has a feast of colour and sound, looks to recreate the innocence and irreverence of Ruskin Bond’s stories on stage. As it is with most retellings of famous writers on stage, Ruskin Bond himself plays a pivotal character in most of his stories. The greatest attribute of the stories threaded together as a play you will see, is the range of his writing – in terms of plot, landscapes, characters and genre. From his love for the quiet hills of Deoli to the haunted mansions in Dehra.

From innocent tales of unrequited love to terrible stories of violence in marriage. We as an audience journey into each story through a train - and at each stop – a different tale awaits. The play attempts to weave together a variety of musical & storytelling techniques with the text of bond providing a completely different yet honest perspective of the writer’s best stories. Bring your entire family and relive the stories of a legendary writer!

About the festival: Chettinad Sarvalokaa Performing Arts Festival is honored to bring together artistes from across different forms of Performing Arts from the fields of theatre,music and dance. The festival consisting of 4 shows will happen across 3 weeks in December 2017 and will take place in Chettinad Rani Seethai Hall.

Directed By

Dushyanth Gunashekar

Venue

Chettinad Rani Seethai Hall

Date & Time

08 December 2017

Time: 7:30 PM

WCC's College Play, 'Musicians of Bremen'

WCC's College Play

Musicians of Bremen: An Allegory

Directed by Hans Kaushik

21, 22, 23 September 2017

6. 30 pm on all days.

[Please be seated by 6.15 pm]

Tickets available at the Venue

Film Fest @ Goethe-Institut, Chennai

GOETHE-INSTITUT / MAX MUELLER BHAVAN Chennai

and MARUPAKKAM

present

SOCIAL JUSTICE FILM FESTIVAL

curated by Amudhan RP

14-16, September| 10.00 a.m. – 8.00 p.m. | Goethe-Institut Auditorium

Day 3 Saturday, 16 September 2017

The Schedule

10.00 a.m. Accsex

Dir: Shweta Ghosh | 52 min. | Hindi and English

Within stifling dichotomies of normal and abnormal, lie millions of women, negotiating with their identities, Accsex explores notions of beauty, the 'ideal body' and sexuality through four storytellers.

Four women who happen to be people with disability, through the lives of Natasha, Sonali, Kanti and Abha, this film brings to fore questions of acceptance, confidence and resistance to the normative. As it turns out, these questions are not too removed from everyday realities of several others, deemed 'imperfect' and 'monstrous' for not fitting in.

Accsex traces the journey of the storytellers as they reclaim agency and the right to unapologetic confidence, sexual expression and happiness.

'Bonding with Ruskin'

Madras Players

present

Bonding with Ruskin

23 June at 19:00 to 25 June at 21:30

at the

Museum Theatre, Egmore

The Play which has a feast of colour and sound, looks to recreate the innocence and irreverence of Ruskin Bond’s stories on stage. As it is with most retellings of famous writers’ on stage, Ruskin Bond himself plays a pivotal character in most of his stories. The greatest attribute of the stories threaded together as a play you will see, is the range of his writing – in terms of plot, landscapes, characters and genre. From his love for the quiet hills of Deoli to the haunted mansions in Dehra. From innocent tales of unrequited love to terrible stories of violence in marriage. We as an audience journey into each story as his characters journey through a train - and at each stop – a different tale awaits. The play attempts to weave together a variety of musical & story telling techniques with the text of bond providing a completely different yet honest perspective of the writer’s best stories.

Derek Walcott's 'Dream Play' - Dream on Monkey Mountain

A Dream Play (1907), is a drama by August Strindberg. A precursor to both expressionism and surrealism, this play has been successfully revived many times. Strindberg was in the process of breaking from his earlier naturalist approach when he wrote this dream tale of the daughter of the goddess Indra descending to Earth to meet a variety of symbolic characters.

Forerunner of Modern Drama: The play is considered a forerunner of expressionism and the theater of the absurd.

It employs dream symbolism to translate Strindberg’s mystical visions into the language of drama. Highly abstracted characters appear and disappear in stylized settings; scenes and images change unexpectedly; and profound fears and ghastly fantasies materialize. By breaking with the realistic traditions of drama in his later career, Strindberg opened up new possibilities, prefiguring such major dramatic movements of the twentieth century as expressionism and exerting a powerful influence on dramatists such as Samuel Beckett, Eugene O’Neill, and Eugene Ionesco.

Derek Walcott’s Dream Play: Dream on Monkey Mountain

Makak (Chris McFarlane) prepares to destroy his
vision (Juette Carty) in 'Dream on Monkey Mountain'.

The Dream on Monkey Mountain (1967) belongs to the twentieth-century genre called dream plays, connected with works by playwrights such as Strindberg as well as by Synge and Soyinka. The play's main character is Makak (French patois for "Ape"), a black charcoal-burner who comes to town, gets drunk, and is taken into custody by Corporal Lestrade, a mulatto guard who is the maintainer of law and order during the later years of the colonial power. In a dream scene of a mock trial that was probably inspired by Kafka and Hesse, Lestrade accuses Makak of being intoxicated and damaging the premises of a local salesman. However, in another vivid dream sequence, Makak is crowned king in the romantic Africa of his roots, surrounded by his wives, his warriors, and the masks of pagan gods.

Theatre beckons...

British Council in association with Rage and Royal Court Theatre present Writers' bloc showcase - a specially curated season of original plays by Indian playwrights from writers' bloc. Please find the schedule as below.

All events will be at the British Council Chennai. The detailed invite has been attached below. For any queries please contact Samhita Guha at 8939831720.

For registrations please write to valavan.s@britishcouncil.org

For more details, you may click on their brochure HERE

Entrenched, Rooted and Grounded in the Chola heartland!

A historical romance that pre-dates a thousand years,

A work of epical proportions that brings to life in ‘flesh and blood’ the historical valour, culture, love and might of the Tamils from the glorious Chola empire, in all its charm,

   Vaanar Kulathu Vallavarayan 'Vandhiyathevan'

A work that in over 2400 pages spread over five volumes of ‘well-wrought’ ‘mighty lines’ of Kalki, and celebrated as one of the finest modern works in Tamil Literature, has an impact that outlives its milieu,

A work that, [like Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities mixes fact with fiction], blends fact with fiction with such ease and alacrity that Poonkuzhali, Murugaiyan, or Nandini or Mandakini ‘transfix you for eternity’ like the factual ones do, in the novel!

When such a legendary work comes alive on stage in your own backyard, who on earth would want to give it a miss?

Periya Piratti and Madurantaka

Well, YES… we – a bevy of besties - were all in attendance at the Vani Mahal even an hour before the start of the play this last Sunday evening – a pleasant day at that – when the weather gods were kind enough not to play truant – and blessed us with their cosy evening ‘winter winds’, that we were promptly cajoled into taking a quick ‘detour’ to the next door Pothys for a hot cuppa filter coffee to drink of the caffeinic delights thereof down ‘to the lees’!!!

After coffee, we walked down Vani Mahal, and we were doubly delighted to see the eponymous ‘students’-saviour’ aka ‘Rain Man’ Ramanan who was also part of the spectacular array of spectators. The moment he was ‘spotted’ by his enthusiastic fans amongst the crowd, curious eyes and smiling faces made a beeline to him and vied with one another to get themselves clicked for ‘posterity’! One lady – a part of the ‘frenzied groupies’ who had gathered around him – says, ‘Sir, we miss you. You shouldn’t have retired!’ He acknowledged her gracefully and replied with his trademark smile, ‘Everyone has to retire someday, Isn’t it?’

Negotiating the 'betweens n betwixts' of the Third Space

Postcolonial Film Review of Unseen by Perivi Katjavivi

Synopsis

Unfolding more like a conversation than a narrative, 'The Unseen' follows the story of three wandering souls as they navigate the emotional and physical realities of post-colonial Namibia. First there is Marcus, an African American actor tasked with portraying one of Namibia’s historical leaders. Seeking authenticity in his craft, he embarks on an earnest research mission to unveil the true history of his character. Then there is Anu, a talented local musician who is having trouble negotiating between his influences and identity. Lastly, there is Sara, a depressed young woman uncertain of whether or not her environment provides anything worth living for.

Press

“The Unseen is an entirely new kind of cinema, inventing for itself a new language, refusing to be trapped in the past or shaped by white or western film models the way many South African films still are.  It’s one of the most exciting and visually beautiful films you’ll see this year.“ – Charles Blignaut, CityPress, South Africa

“Brilliant and refreshing. …. [Katjavivi’s] characters negotiate forces of neoimperial homogeneity in the present, while trying to make sense of the past. … This portrayal of life in the impact zone of post-colonialism and post-modernity has real substance and weight.“ – Sarah Dawson, Mail & Guardian, South Africa

“The Unseen is a powerful commentary on what it means to be a young person in modern-day Africa.” – Screen Africa

The Hindu THEATRE FEST 2016 SCHEDULE
Date	Play
19-Aug Friday	Dear Liar (English) Motley Sri Mutha Venkata Subbarao Hall, Lady Andal School
20-Aug Saturday	Yatagarasu (English) J Production and Dur Se Brothers Sri Mutha Venkata Subbarao Hall, Lady Andal School
21-Aug Sunday	The God of Carnage (English) QTP Sri Mutha Venkata Subbarao Hall, Lady Andal School
26-Aug Friday	Aayirathiloru Iravugal (Tamil) Theatre Zero Museum Theatre
27-Aug Saturday	Mundhirikotte (Tamil) Guduguduppakari Museum Theatre
28-Aug Sunday	Vandichodai (Tamil) Koothuppattarai Museum Theatre

Don't Miss Out..!

Shakespeare’s The Tempest in Tamil

On 30th July 2016

07:30 pm - 09:00 pm

@ Museum Theatre, Pantheon Road, Near St. Anthony School, Egmore, Chennai

Directed by: Samyuktha P. C.

On the 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare, Crea Shakthi retells his story of magic and water - The Tempest. Locked in a deserted isle, Prospero tastes sweet revenge by bringing down his enemies in a storm of illusions. Known for its spectacular stagecraft demands, The Tempest has been adapted worldwide in various languages to unveil the truths of colonialism, slavery, and oppression. A new reading of this mammoth play in Tamil will bring forth a character who has been silenced and reduced to hysteria. Pitting the young against the old, it shows the priorities change with generations.

Donation Pass: Rs 200, Rs 300 and Rs 500

Tickets available on Bookmyshow

Film Series @ Goethe-Institut

In cooperation with Department of Humanities & Social Sciences- IIT(Madras), Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation, Madras Film Society, LV Prasad Film & TV Academy, SRM Sivaji Ganesan Film Institute, The Cinema Resource Centre

FILM SERIES

16.07. 2016 to 17.07.2016, 6.30 p.m.

Goethe-Institut Auditorium

Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft, better known as DEFA, was the state-owned film studio in the German Democratic Republic (in East Germany) throughout that country's history.  On May 17, 1946, the Soviet Military Administration in Germany granted a license to the DEFA Studio for the production of films. Just after five months the first DEFA film, The Murderers Are among Us (Dir.Wolfgang Staudte), premiered in Berlin and won international recognition—the first German film made after WW-II.

An exquisite show that explores the language used by Shakespeare...

Madras Literary Society (MLS)

presents

‘Experience Shakespeare’

featuring a troupe of actors (Nikhila Kesavan, Radhakrishnan Iyer, Sarvesh Sridhar, Tarun Lakshman and Geetha Lakshman)

exploring Shakespeare’s characters, language and rhythms

on Saturday, 09 July 2016, 11.30 am

at Madras Literary Society, DPI Campus, College Road, Nungambakkam

The show will conclude with a play-reading, showcasing George Bernard Shaw’s approach to Shakespeare.

The year 2016 marks the 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare. Known for his ability to write in various genres, Shakespeare is considered to be one of the most influential playwrights. Born in 1564 in England, he wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets and multiple poems over a course of 20-odd years.

For details, call 2827 9666