Giving voice to the freedom of thought, silently

The passion for theatre is innate for

S Sunilkumar

, the third semester PG student of the Theatre Department of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. The 23-year-old student kick-started his theatre career as the lead actor of the play Chakka, written by veteran playwright MS Namboothiri, when he was a second-year degree student.

Three years later, the youngster is busy rehearsing for his play

Maze

, which was recently selected for the Bharath Rang Mahotsav conducted by the

National School of Drama

. Sunil talks to us about his preparations, the theme of the play and more.

The

silent play

, which is 75 minutes long, talks about the relationship of an old man and boy, played by Midhun Shambhu and Rakesh Pallashery, respectively.

“Sometimes you feel stifled in a relationship, just like when you are locked up in a room and want to escape. That’s the theme of this play. Freedom of thought of an individual is what shapes the any phase of a relationship. We are trying to show that through the two characters of the play,” says the Kochi native.

But does the abstract theme have an impact on the feedback of the audience, especially with it also being a silent play? “Each member of the audience can have their own interpretation of the play but my effort is to paint a clear picture of what’s been portrayed on stage,” he says.

Sunil has already performed the play four times on his campus. “It got such a heart-warming welcome the first time and that made us want to enact it again,” he says. As Maze is a silent play, the ambience in the auditorium is also a vital component of the performance, he says. “Also, when we stage it repeatedly, we noticed that the audience automatically provides that ambience and that’s the first sign of acceptance,” says Sunil.

The youngster, who say his biggest inspirations are his teachers, took almost seven months to complete the play. The light and art departments of the production are handled by his collegemates Anoop and Sharath, respectively. Akshay, Manu and Abin oversee the music.

On Maze being selected for the Bharath Rang Mahotsav set to held in February 2019, he says, “I don’t find it extremely surprising, but I am excited nonetheless. I was quite confident about my work and the feedback after the first performance was reassuring. My teachers too were encouraging, and they were ones who pushed me to apply in The National School of Drama competition.”