Today I went to “Asthiram” (அஸ்திரம்) a play by Shraddha Theatre People. It was acted by Kathadi Ramamurthy, Sundarrajan, Shivaji Chathurvedi & others. Directed by K.Vivek Shankar. I have been to few of the earlier plays by Shraddha and just like them this too was a fine work.
The play was about a terrorist attempt to steal the formula of a secret deadly weapon being developed by an Indian Scientist. The story happens in a street on the town of Vaitheeswaran koil in Tamil Nadu. The street has typical households you will see in every village / town of Tamil Nadu, they are brought to life by a fine set on stage. The climax gunshots scene was enacted beautifully with good visual & sound effects. An action / Crime movie is a new attempt I suppose for Shraddha Theatre and they have done it well.
What I found interesting was the showing of 3 houses at the same in the front of stage with cross-sections of the two side houses. This meant the action can move from one house to another without disruptions/time consuming background changes. You can see it in the below photographs (bear with me for the grainy photos that I could manage with my iPhone4 taken with least disturbance to the others in audience).
Everyone in the play did their parts very well, especially the person who acted as “Suri” the physically challenged boy and the person who came in as the inspector. The dialogues by the Scientist felt pretty long for an otherwise good play. Overall a fine attempt with a good message.
More detailed review: Asthiram review in தினமணி ஞாயிறு கொண்டாட்டம் (2-12-2012)