Monologue medleys rule the roost

CHENNAI: How does one differentiate a monologue from storytelling? Well, while the latter is full of animated action and stops just with that, a monologue easily connects with you and brings together the different characters of the play in the absence of a narrator. Here, the advantage is, you get picture a movie of sorts of your own making, as the plot unfolds. Ganapathy Hariharan, also known as Babu of Koothu-p-pattarai, performed a monologue titled Akkarai Cheemayil last Friday, which had the audience captivated from the beginning.Akkarai Cheemayil is a short story by renowned Tamil writer Sundara Ramasamy, in which he narrates in first person, the experience of his visit to Africa after their independence. He meets Tamils who went there in search of a better life, but left after working meagre jobs. The story also brings into light, the then poor state of blacks in Africa, the atrocities of the British rule, and India’s hopeless future.Babu, as he narrated the story, transformed into different characters that were part of the play. The subtle changes in his body language and voice revealed who was who in the story. There was not much scope for sets in this play, though the music was aptly given by M Ramakrishnan.Akkarai Seemayil was one of the two solos of the day. The other play was, Oru Sevalin Kathai, where Babu facetiously enacted the story of a rooster and why the sun rises only after it crows daily. The story has been written by Babu himself and the children who were undergoing theatre workshop were also present to watch his performance. The plays were part of the 75th Birthday celebrations of the founder of Koothu-p-pattarai, N Muthuswamy, which falls on May 25. Other solo plays were performed by Anand Sami of the troupe on May 23 and 24.