D. Sunil Kumar’s MAZE

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Playwright & Director: D. Sunil Kumar
Group: Department of Theatre, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala
Language: Malayalam
Duration: 1 hr 16 mins

The Play
Maze tries to establish the relationship between a servant and an old man who are connected inside the web of memories and realties. The servant takes care of the old man and even tries to pretend as the old man’s wife in order to make him eat food. The attire of the servant wearing his wife’s cloths makes the old man sexually attracted to him and he starts expressing his longing. The memory of his wife leads him to a dream but he recognizes the servant’s smell and comes back to reality. In that unreal space there are moments in which both of them find happiness and comfort. Finally it is revealed that the old man was only a memory of the servant.

Director’s Note
Maze portrays the repetitive aspect of human life that there is no beginning or end to what we call life. But we still consider death as the full stop to it. The dead continue to live within the minds of the living. Memory and reality can’t be separated and they always give rise to the question, what is real? This moment ends with the next. Every relationship creates a circle from which the process of ‘coming out’ or ‘leaving’ is impossible. Here the old man and the servant create a space within their relationship that questions the material existence of each other. This interlocked space makes it difficult to have an individual existence. The old man continues to live in the memory of the servant and it is the memory of the old man that makes the servant live in his solitude.

The Director & Playwright
Sunil Kumar S., born and brought up in Angamaly, is a graduate in Commerce and is now pursuing his Masters in Theatre and Performing arts at SSUS, Kalady, Kerala. In the past five years he has been an active figure in the realm of theatre with his contributions in direction, acting and other important aspects of theatre. It is his passion for theatre that made him choose theatre as his career. He has worked with many prominent theatre practitioners in Kerala including Kumara Varma, Ramesh Varma, Vinod Kumar, Gopan Chithambaran, Adrian Schvarzstein, etc. He has also acted in various student productions including Dhojoji, Riders to the Sea, Procession, Christmas Night, Chakka, Interview, Machine, Kudukka, Group Photo etc. Maze is his first production and has gained the attention of many theatre practitioners and critics. Currently he is conducting theatre camps and workshops for students and theatre-lovers all over Kerala.

The Group
Department of Theatre, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala has witnessed a number of inevitable changes. The department has introduced several changes in the graduate courses, admitted a number of research students, received substantial research and infrastructure grants, and brought new areas of research activity together, making it a vibrant and cohesive entity. Within a span of 17 years, we have become a prime department of theatre in India. Alumni of this department are showing their excellence in their respective fields and are now known all across India. Students are participating in all major international theatre festivals across the country. Moreover, many popular actors and directors of Malayalam film industry are former students of this department.

Cast & Credits
On Stage: Midhun M P, Rakesh P

Light design and Execution: Anoop K V
Light Assistant: Jamshid Jamal
Music Direction and Execution: Akshai K A, Abin Davis, Manu M K
Make-up: Vipin Kumar
Costume: Anooja Ravi, Neethu Velayudhan
Art-Design and Execution: Sarathkumar M R, Amal Deep P
Stage Managers: Prasob Prakash, Abhinav Prasad P
Technical support: Devendra Khattana, Febin Ummachan, Sharon Shaju, AkhilVijayan, Dinanad S R, Sherin Varghese, Sagar K B

Story, Design & Direction: Sunil Kumar S.

Manohar Khushalani

Manohar Khushalani

Prof. Manohar Khushalani is a former Visiting Faculty at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. The courses he taught were: Animation & Graphics, Non-Linear Editing for Film and Radio and Theatre Appreciation.  He has won a total of nine Excellence in Teaching awards for all the courses he has taught at IIITD Earlier he retired from Government of India as Director Environment Management, Central Water Commission and held many senior positions in the Government Based on a Belief that Culture and Environment are the two keys to global sustainability , Manohar Khushalani has launched two portals: A Portal on Environment and Water called One Vorld at url: www.onevorld.org and two Ezines on Culture called Stage Buzz at url: www.stagebuzz.in He has taught extensively in varied subjects such as Dam Safety, Instrumentation, CAD, IT, Animation, Theatre, Newspaper Editing. He has conducted Courses on Environment Management, Water Shed Development, Team Building and Personality Development. He was an Expert Member of Prasar Bharti’s Committee for Grading & Short listing Films for Telecast on all channels of Doordarshan.  He is a Radio Anchor for All India Radio and has moderated several programs for the Rajdhani Channel He is a well-known Theatre Actor/Director and Critic, has been involved in theatre since 1977. He has worked as an actor in over 50 plays with almost every leading director/Actor in the Country including Badal Sircar, Feisal Alkazi, Amal Allana, M.K. Raina, Anuradha Kapoor, Maya Rao, Manohar Singh, Prasanna, Rati Bartholomew and Sushmita Mukherji. He has been active in the social sector as a street theatre activist. As a member of Workshop Theatre, Theatre Union and Prayog, Khushalani has participated in street plays taking up major social issues such as dowry, bride burning, Sati, banned medicinal drugs and communalism. Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay Won’t Pay, both directed by him, received rave notices from critics and audiences alike. Other plays directed by him include Badal Sircar’s, Sagina Mahato and Boris Vian’s Empire Builders for Ruchika Theatre Group. Khushalani has also acted in a few films such as Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi , Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café and Pradeep Krishan's Annie Gives Those Ones. He is an Animator & Graphics Designer and has directed a number of documentaries. He also held a number of Honorary positions and was President of North India Films Association, He was the Chairman of  Jury for UGC CEC Educational Films Competition and has been on their Preview Committee since last many years. He was on the preview committee of Door Darshan Channel 3, was a visiting Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, AJKMCRR, Jamia Milia Islamia and Professor in Media at FICT, Delhi  He has judged a large number of Drama Competitions and conducted a number of Theatre / Management Games Workshops with Institutions such as AIIMS, NTPC, CWPRS, NWA, Karve Nari Prakshishan Sansthan, FICT, IIT, MAMC, Gargi College, KNC, Tagore International School and Vivekananda School. He is a Theatre Critic for IIC Diary, has also been a Columnist with Midday and Pioneer Daily and wrote Column's Called Culture Cocktail and Footlights Respectively. He was also the Guest Editor for an issue on Folk Theatre of ICCR Journal Horizons. He has written for Times of Indian, Hindustan Times, Blitz, Hard News, Hindu Business Line, Theatre India & Art Times. He has designed dams and hydraulic structures for the Government. He is a programmer and has developed Engineering design software in Fortran. He is a co-author of Irrigation Practice & Design (Vol 1 to5 - 1500 pages) published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust. He has been a Director, Environment and Sociology, at the National Water Academy, Khadakwasla and Director, Environment Management Directorate, Central Water Commission and Member Secretary, National Environmental Monitoring Committee for River Valley Projects. He was also Director of Instrumentation Directorate in the Dam Safety Organisation. He was Chief General Manager and Head of Water Resources at Scott Wilson and is an accredited consultant with numerous other organizations He is a Delhi Public School, BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi and FTI Pune Alumini. He was also the President of BITS Pilani Alumni Association, Pune.

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