Art lovers collaborate for interactive poetry reading in Chennai

CHENNAI: Celebrating 25 years, Prakriti Foundation is collaborating with Abhay K, fashion brand Raw Mango, and Theatre Nisha for a ‘Theatre Poetry Reading’ on January 31 at Raw Mango, Teynampet. Blending two forms of art, theatre and poetry, the event is all about offering the best of both worlds to its attendees.

Speaking to DT Next about the event, Ranvir Shah, founder of Prakriti says, “I was introduced to Abhay through a friend and I stayed in touch with him. He’s a prolific poet and his works have made an impact globally. When he came back to India from Madagascar, we decided to have a poetry reading from a couple of his books.”

Abhay K

He says the poet will be reading from three of his books, Stray Poems, Monsoon: A Poem of Love and Longing, and The Alphabets of Latin America. “What’s special about the show is that it is an immersive experience for participants as they get to live the poems. Attendees will be moving with the troupe, Theatre Nisha, to different rooms at the venue,” he adds.

Talking about the event, Abhay, says, “We had initially planned to take this theatrical poetry reading to different cities in the country but are doing it only in Chennai due to issues with the dates.” He chuckles, “So, this is like a one-time experience in a way.”

Having travelled across several countries and done several poetry readings, he says he has done a reading as immersive as this only in Nepal. “The poetry reading had a theatre troupe perform while I read. It was interesting, but it certainly was not like what is going to happen in Chennai. Attendees will be moving along with the troupe to various rooms. I’m looking forward to seeing how that pans out,” he remarks.

“We have a fantastic music team, Kiran Kashyap on the violin and Vikram on the flute, who will make the experience more magical. We didn’t adapt these works because it’s not a play. It’s going to be a poetry reading with sensory accompaniments,” says V Balakrishnan, founder of Theatre Nisha, who will be performing along with Meera Sitaraman and Shakti Ramani.

The event is taking place at Raw Mango, Teynampet from 5 pm to 6 pm and 7 pm to 8 pm. Entry is free.

For more details, contact 9940620268.