Sasidharan Naduvil’s HIGUITA – A GOALIE’S ANXIETY AT THE PENALTY KICK

Playwright & Director: Sasidharan Naduvil

Group: Remembrance Theatre Group, Kerala

Language: Malayalam

Duration: 1 hr 30 mins

The Play & Director’s Note

This is an independent dramatization of two famous works, one by N.S Madhavan (Higuita) and the other by Peter Handke (The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick). Higuita was staged for the first time 20 years ago as a 30-minute short play. The stage arrangement consists of a football ground with a church on one side. Father Geevarghese is the church vicar of a small town somewhere near southern part of Delhi. He had once heard the story The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty box from Father Capriaty, his friend from Italy. Geevarghese, on his tiny television set in his room, is watching the world cup football match. In the centre circle of the football ground, the then and now Father Geevarghese, meets the people from his past – Lucy Marandy, Jabbar, his friends, and family. Imprisoned in their boxes, the goalkeepers stand like caged birds under the scorching sun. But what excitesGeevarghese is the image of Higuita, walking back peacefully to his own post, after kicking the ball to the farthest striker of his team towards the rival post. Father Geevarghese watches himself overcoming all barriers like Higuita. He retorts against the injustice happening in front of him. Footballs are ablaze and swinging in the air, and from the dark, someone yells…

The Director & Playwright

Sasidharan Naduvil was born in 1963 in a remote village named Vallachira in Thrissur district of Kerala. Since his childhood, he was fond of theatre and performed many plays during his school and college days. Later in 1980s, he became a disciple of Jose Chirammel and joined the Root Theatre Group, one of the renowned theatre groups in Kerala, run by the theatre activist Chirammel. Being a theatre person for the last 35 years, Sasidharan has acted in more than 12 plays, written 27 plays, and directed more than 400 plays. He has won inter-university drama competitions eleven times held at various universities of Kerala, including the South Zone and National Festival, and has been awarded many a times.

The Group

Campus theatre personnel of NSS Engineering College, Palakkad and theatre artists from various districts of Kerala founded Remembrance Theatre Group (RTG) in 2003. It has participated in festivals like Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards, Bharat Rang Mahotsav, PRD Festival, KSNA Festival, Keli Theatre Festival, Prithvi Theatre Mumbai, 8th Theatre Olympics 2018, and Ochre Theatre Festival, Canberra, Australia. RTG is actively performing in Trichur, Calicut, Bangalore, Doha, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Australia. It has an ensemble of plays like Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, Jean Genet’s Balcony, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Sasidharan Naduvil’s Pithalasalabham, and N S Madhavan’s Higuita.

Cast & Credits

Fr Geevarghese: Jijoy P R  

Jabbar: Manikandan

K Geevarghese/Higuita: Rishnan Unni

Narrator 1/ Commentary: Thamam Mubarish

Narrator/P T Master/Geevarghese Father: Sumesh Manithara

Priest 2/Footballer 1: Roshin

Team Manager /Malappuram Guy: Sreekumar Prigi

Stage Manager/Referee 2/Coach 2: Paul D Joseph

Referee/ Actor: Aravind Patel, Hena Patel     

Sevens Foot Baller 2: Aditya Patel, Athira Patel   

Foot Baller 3: Sanaji Kumar

Foot Baller 4: Rajesh Prasad

Foot Baller 5: Vyshakh

Foot Baller 6: Henson

Foot Baller 7: Tom  

Foot Baller 8: Jithin

Foot Baller 9: Githin

Foot Baller 10: Viswajith V Menon

Foot Baller 11:  Hiran

Foot Baller 12: Akhilesh Pali

Others: Sonia Giri, Archana, Ganga, Aswathy, Kavitha, Abhilash Arimbur

Technicial/Malappuram Guy: Francis

Music Direction & Execution: Satyajith

Light Design & Execution: Murali

Playwright & Director: Sasidharan Naduvil