Prelude: Unique plays from the house of debut writers and actors
The event also features five anthology plays directed by experienced directors including Bhavya Balantrapu, Suhas Vaidya, Prasanna Rajaram, Shubh Mukherjee and Prasanth Oliver
Still of a group of actors from the workshop
CHENNAI: Are you a person with an interest in acting or directing a play? Does the enchanting world of theatre amaze you? Are you clueless about how to enter the realm? To bridge the gap, artist.chennai is a student-run organisation that aims to build a community of budding artistes of all art forms.
“We are a bunch of friends who have mutual love, appreciation and respect for the arts. We realised that there is a lot of open mic in Chennai that predominantly promotes humour and music. But art is beyond that and extends to painting, theatre, sculpting and more. This is a community for artists by artists,” says Srija Sriram, head of communications.
“Theatre is a huge art form. It cannot be confined to just acting, sets, music, or dance. It combines everything together,” she adds. Now artist.chennai has come up with a unique event that features debut actors and writers. On World Theatre Day in March, the community invited writers asking for scripts and also conducted beginner-friendly acting workshops facilitated by AK Maikayil. After the selection process, the group is all set for Prelude, which encompasses workshops, auditions and mentorships by industry experts.
The event also features five anthology plays directed by experienced directors including Bhavya Balantrapu, Suhas Vaidya, Prasanna Rajaram, Shubh Mukherjee and Prasanth Oliver. The scripts are penned by first time writers. “Debut actors will showcase their acting prowess in these plays. The audience can expect comedy, drama, philosophy, suspense and sensitive themes to be covered,” Srija elucidates.
Srija Sriram
Theatre veteran with more than three decades of experience and two META awards, T M Karthik will be staging a special performance at Prelude. “He will be performing a monologue and this will be his first performance after a decade,” states an excited Srija.
The concepts of all six plays are distinctive and intriguing. Death Arrives Uninvited, Love Afterlife sees the reunion of Romeo and Juliet in the afterlife and will they find their way out of their own fate forms the crux of the play, Dad And The Pad is a story of a father who is on a pad hunt for his daughter, a suspense-thriller Flat 707, Borys The Rottweiler talks about loyalty and moral values and Bestseller which is based on the story written by a bestselling author.
“We are committed to give back to society. So, a percentage of the proceeds from Prelude will be contributed to a local charity, reinforcing our belief that art is not just for individuals but for society as a whole. Initiatives like these will inspire the youth to pursue their passion more seriously and also provide them with a platform to grow. In the future, we would love to promote small businesses as well,” shares the 18-year-old.
Prelude is taking place on July 20 at Alliance Francaise of Madras. Head to their Instagram page for more details.
