KOCHI
The passion for stage among budding talents was in full bloom as Holy King’s parish hall at Piravom hosted drama competition in the high school category at the Ernakulam District School Kalolsavam on Tuesday.
A much sought-after event in the annual fest, the competition evoked much enthusiasm as the hall was almost packed around 1 p.m. Despite the poor audio system that often resulted in howling noise, the young performers came up with scintillating performances on the second day of the 34th district school fest.
The vibrant team representing St. Teresa’s Convent Girls High School, Ernakulam, won the hearts of the audience by staging the play ‘Swapnam’ inspired by acclaimed author Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. A team that won ‘A’ grade in the recently concluded State Sasthra Kalolsavam in Thrissur, the enthusiastic members reminded the audience that it was the hard work and dream of many a reformer that resulted in the formation of Kerala.
The play was styled on the lines of a porattu natakam, a folk play featuring humorous dialogues, dance, and drama. “The drama was also a tribute to several theatre persons, who had played a key role in echoing progressive ideals in our society,” said Sunil Chandiroor, its director and a civil police officer with the Department of Vigilance in Ernakulam. A passionate theatre buff, he had been directing plays for Government Girls’ HSS, Cherthala, for the past five years. “For Sastrolsavam, we had presented the story of a girl yearning to travel to Mars,” he said.
Most plays brought out the timing and coordination skills of the youth on stage as they easily slipped into the characters and shifted the props to express the change of locale and scenes within the allotted time. A group of seniors who had come to watch the event showered praises on the young performers.
