Event Info
- Language: Malayalam (Manipravalam)
- City / State: Thrissur (Kerala)
- Directed By: Neeraj G M
- Produced By: Kerala Kalamandalam, A deemed-to-be-University of Art and Culture
The Old Man and the Sea- Kathakali of the Morrow
The Old Man and the Sea is a retelling of Hemingway’s immortal novella, The Old Man and the Sea, through a clever subversion of the classical Kathakali format. The play reinforces adopting the dramatic and technical aspects of modern theatre within the basic principles of traditional Kathakali, creating an immersive audience experience.
The Old Man and the Sea-Kathakali of the Morrow is a retelling of Hemingway’s immortal novella, The Old Man and the Sea, through a clever subversion of the classical Kathakali format. The play reinforces the adoption of the dramatic and technical aspects of modern theatre within the basic principles of traditional Kathakali, creating an immersive audience experience. In an experimental setting, it reimagines Hemingway’s classic story about Santiago, an old fisherman, his lonesome home along the Cuban shores of the Atlantic Ocean; Manolin, his boy-companion; and the great Marlin fish he harpoons after 84 days of drought.
The directorial vision of The Old Man and the Sea- Kathakali of the Morrow sticks to the existential aspects of the great art form of Kathakali while adopting the wonderful and novel concepts of modern theatre to a permissible extent, so that Kathakali gets a fresh burst of life and takes on exciting dimensions. We firmly believe in creating a wide and enthusiastic new generation of Kathakali viewers and aficionados across the world. While the present status of this art form is painfully restricted to being isolated and almost manipulated, the major challenges we foresaw in this difficult task were in blending the strictly traditional with modern concepts like extension of performing spaces, and the effective use of innovative lighting strategies.