A potpourri of art forms

CHENNAI: Vidhuran — a one-of-a-kind play where three different art forms were weaved together to tell a story — was staged at Sivagami Petachi Auditorium recently. Trained under Vietnam Sundaram (Gouravam fame director), the theatre group Mactrics, showcased all three art forms — theatre, dance and mime brilliantly to a small  audience. The performers, clad in black attire, enacted one of the scenes from the Mahabaratha where Vidhuran saves the Pandavas from the clutches of Duryodhana and his brothers, with the help of their facial expressions and hand gestures. The story was narrated in a way that helped the play to remain focused on all the three forms of art.Every movement was splendidly executed by the members of the team. For instance, the waterfall and the wax palace were brought alive on stage through miming alone. Mime being one of the lesser performed art forms in the city, the theatre group decided to spread some awareness about it. This event was more like a first step for the team in urging the sabhas and other theatre groups to collaborate with them for more such mime acts. It should have taken a lot of effort and skill for this team of 20 (both students and working professionals) who had put together the act in less than three months.Victor, the creative head of the team, mentioned that in Chennai, pantomime is popular, but not many are well-versed with miming, which is also an important art form. He says, “A lot of people confuse pantomime with miming. This is one platform to make the audience acknowledge the significance of miming. We want to take this art form to a higher level. This show was mainly staged so that we deliver a better performance in the future. This was just a grand rehearsal.”