Bharat Murali Fest begins; 10 plays to be staged in 5 days

T'puram: Finance minister KN Balagopal inaugurated the second edition of Bharat Murali Theatre Festival, organized by University of Kerala on Thursday, on the occasion of World Theatre Day.
Former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala delivered the keynote address. The event was chaired by G Muralidharan, syndicate member and chairman of the festival and Shiju Khan JS, syndicate member and general convener of the festival, delivered the welcome address.
Organised in memory of actor Murali, the five-day event will honour early theatre talents and their family members. After the inauguration, the play ‘Ningalenne Communistakki' by Kayamkulam KPAC was staged.
A total of ten plays will be staged across three venues in the Senate House campus. Noteworthy plays at the festival include ‘Madan Moksham', which won awards for best play, best director and best actor at the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi's amateur theatre competition; ‘Porattu', selected as the second-best play; ‘Abhaya' by University of Kerala, which won first place at the national inter-university youth festival; and ‘10D Rappers', which captured audience attention with an A grade at the state school arts festival's high school drama competition.
Additionally, other recently acclaimed plays will also be performed.
Alongside the theatrical performances, talks related to theatre will be part of the festival. On Saturday, Sreejith Ramanan, a theatre teacher and practitioner, will deliver a talk on contemporary presentation methods.
On Sunday, Shailaja Jala, a theatre activist, will speak on the role of theatre in cultural formation.