From Kalikotta Palace to the United States

TRIPUNITHURA: The eleven-member All Ladies’ Kathakali Troupe, a subsidiary of the Tripunithura Kathakali Club, left for the US on Sunday morning to present selected pieces. This is their second trip to the US, the first one was in 2002. Their first programme will be held in New Jersey where they will present ‘Lavanasura Vadham’. Though the team members are trained kathakali artists, they had a systematic rehearsal at the Kalikotta Palace to prepare for a performance before an august audience.In 2002 the members of the team recall the breathtaking moments presented by Radhika Varma while portraying the September 11 disaster on the request of the viewers. “Incidently,  the 10th anniversary of the tragedy is being observed this year.“In our last trip, the viewers from Los Angeles asked us to portray moments from  September 11 by exploring the infinite possibilities of kathakali,” said Radhika Varma, who had recreated them through facial expressions and hand gestures. When she began to act pin-drop silence prevailed in the theatre for a few seconds, followed by thunderous applause, recalls the team members.The eleven-member team includes Radhika Varma, Radhika Ayajan, Prameela P Menon, Geetha, Parvathy Menon and also two playback singers Kumari Varma and Shyalaja Varma. They are being accompanied by Gopikrishnan Thampuran (chenda) Vineeth (Maddalam), Radkakrishnan(chutti) and Surendran (aniyara).In this one-and-a-half-month-long US trip, the troupe will present selected classic plays from kathakali at various venues including New Jersey, Texas, Washington DC, Canada and other major theatres.