Galileo - Two comments about the play, quite inspiring

Posted Sat, 11/21/2009 - 11:49 by admin

Two comments about the play Galileo currently being presented by KSSP.

Sajitha Madathil, Director and Theatre Activist

Its was a wonderful experience to watch the Play Galileo by KSSP...I recommend all of you to pls add this play in Dont Miss It list!!!! As a theatre person I know that its very difficult to present a play professionally with armature KSSP artist. But surprisingly through out the stage performance you can see how seriously they deal the stage! As an old KSSP kala jatha member I consider it as a big move from KSSP to deal the art professionally for a cause. That's what I was really expecting or fighting with KSSP for last 20years!!!

The Life of Galileo is among Brecht's most complex plays in which Brecht allows the opposition- the Church and the scientists who refuse to abandon Aristotelian astronomy. The performance text has gone much higher level than the written script. It was a free handed interpretation of Brechtian play.In the text, Brecht uses a street singer's song to demonstrate that Galileo's ideas were trickling down to the peasantry, distorted by the Church into assaults on God.I really like the way the play portray the influence of Galileo's thoughts among ordinary people...Visualisation of a carnival through a traditional story telling form of kerala was intelligent in two ways, firstly it touches you deeply how a scientific thoughts can be interpreted for the revolution of humankind secondly how interestingly we are shifting to folk form while we visualise the ordinary human beings! Thanks to wonderful actors especially Mani master's Galileo and all work behind the stage. I heard replicas of this play is moving all over kerala villages and receiving good responses ! Yes its a big work...I myself feel proud to be a friend of KSSP!

Yes you may differ the way they added its songs in between the scenes and keeping the traits of old Kalajatha chorus to add the force of the text. Still we are moving around the periphery of Brechtian alienation theory which could have easily gone along with the performance text itself! Anyway creating a new performance language for Brechtian play is not KSSP concerns!

Those few false notes aside, this is a magnificent production .Again I would like to recommend all of you, pls try to make it. As you know KSSP wont do any public relation work for their events...Its our duty to trace them!!!

V R Raman of BGVS Chattisgarh

I was at Thiruvananthapuram and the Galileo experience made this evening really great. Such wonderful presentation, stitched in very well with the contemporary Kerala social environment. Kudos to KSSP, the actors and the entire team behind this great job!!

I would say that, and Sajan also did vouch (while our brief meeting after the play), it will be a real loss if you miss this out. Fabulous combination of craft, costume, choreography, music (especially the rich use folk music), properties, cast, dialogue, presentation, direction: every aspect of the play was rejuvenating.

You may kindly see this play and to publicize this to the widest. Good reviews need to come as well, so that maximum people shall know about this and watch this at their nearest location