The drama team of Thiruvangoor Higher Secondary School is on triple celebration mode.
It is not just that their play Oscar Purushu bagged an A-grade, equivalent to a first prize, in the high school category Malayalam drama competition at the 62nd State School Arts Festival that concluded in Kollam on Monday, but R.S. Dala, who played the title role, bagged the best actress title while her teammate Keerthana bagged special mention from the judges. To top it all, the play and the team are to be part of a film soon.
Oscar Purushu is a comeback play for noted theatre director Sivadasan Poyilkavu, who had given up training school teams in 2019 in pursuit of higher goals. But Dala, his daughter, left him with little choice this year as she wanted to be part of the drama team.
“I like to call Oscar Purushu my masterpiece. The play had won critical acclaim right at the sub-district level. The team had its peak performance at the district-level, and as we reached the State-level, the audience was waiting for us,” said Mr. Poyilkavu, who is also an English teacher at the school.
Thiruvangoor HSS has a team of teachers and alumni who are active in theatre and cinema, and Oscar Purushu is the result of their combined effort. “We were inspired by a poem by Veerankutty on the aftermath of rats belling the cat in the popular fable. The play was developed from that thread,” said Mr. Poyilkavu, who also wrote the story and lyrics and composed music for the play, besides directing it.
The cast of Oscar Purushu is completely female. Besides Dala and Keerthana, Ayisha Heban, Lakshmi Priya, Liyana Beevi, Sreeparvathi, and Sivani were on stage, while a team of eight students, including three boys, worked behind the stage. Liyana Beevi was also the choreographer for the final showdown between the cat and the mice in the play.
“A children’s play should have a premise that children can relate to. Yes, we have chosen a cat and mouse game. But the theme that comes up for discussion is politically relevant and one that concerns all,” said Mr. Poyilkavu.
Art teacher Haroon al Usman and alumnus Nidheesh Pookkad performed art direction, while Malayalam teacher Aneesh Anjali prepared the script. Sanilesh Sivan, scriptwriter of the film Kakshi Ammini Pilla, has been an active presence during the theatre camp that developed the play. He has developed the plot for the film based on the theatre camp with the play incorporated into it.
