Navarasa sadhana Workshop NATANAKAIRALI

March 2024. Irinjalakuda. Kerala. India
I enrolled for a highly recommended actors training workshop at Natanakairali, situated in a sleepy town of Kerala called Irinjalakuda.
The workshop has been designed by a master Koodiyatam performer and teacher Guru Gopal Venu ji. It includes teachings from Bharat Muni's Natya Shastra.
The Navarasa Sadhna emphasizes exploring the different emotions in its entirety and pushing the boundaries to the actors' extent.
In this performance, i was working on the emotion "Taadanam" which means physical abuse or beating.
I was inspired by Rajeev Joseph's play "Guard's at the Taj" where a guard was given the job of cutting off the hands of the workers who had built the Taj Mahal.
The guard fulfills his duty, but the guilt stays with him and haunts him.
I adapted the piece and included the learnings of basic Koodiyatam, which I had learned at the workshop.
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