Chennai: City-based theatre group Crea-shakthi, which completes 5 years this March, is all pumped and geared up for their annual My Theatre Festival (MYTF) to be held over the next two weekends in Chennai.
Speaking about the journey so far, Meena Srinivasan, this year’s festival coordinator, says, “In my fourth year with MYTF and it’s been brilliant all along. Our relationship with campus theatres has been evolving. It helps us grow as a community which is essentially what we are looking at.”
“This year’s festival is bigger, better and a little nerve-wracking, but it’s exciting. Chennai’s theatre audience is growing and it makes us cling tighter to our hope that we (Chennai) will make our presence felt in the national theatre scene”, she beamed, adding that MYTF has been a huge contributor in giving an alternate to the cinema.
The sixth edition of MYTF in Chennai will premiere plays penned and performed by professionals alongside campus theatre groups and under-25 teams mentored by the organisation. In addition to Snapshots of a Fervid Sunrise about revolutaries Khudiram Bose and Thillayaadi Valliammai; and Bhima other pro-shows slated for the fest are Sivarathiri, a rib-tickling comedy, Line, about demonetisation and ATM queues and Gruesome Playground Injuries.
When asked what the audience can take home from this year’s MYTF, Dushyanth, one of Crea’s founders and creative head, assured there’ll be variety and vibrancy.
“MYTF has been an under 25 theatre festival until last year. But the quality of work by campus theatre groups has improved, so we decided to club professional shows with under-25 and college theatre groups so that they compete healthily and appreciate the professionals’ works. It provides a step ladder method to budding theatre artists,” the thespians added.
Theatre teams from SVCE, SSN, Anna university and WCC will be seen performing during the theatre festival. Sharing their experience on working for the festival campus theatre teams said, “Crea is easy to work. They have faith in our work. With them, we get a level of freedom that we don’t even get in college. And MYTF is definitely the most exciting thing we do every year and we plan for it from the beginning of the calendar year.” They added, “Youth are now getting into the theatre with a certain amount of responsibility. That’s the change in perception noticed over the last 5 years and it’s getting easier for us to work
with”.
