Surabhi troupe to perform today

Surabhi troupe to perform today
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Highlights

The Surabhi theatre group, a family enterprise, with superb acting skill and long association with the stage, is going to perform at the ongoing Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations. A 45-member Surabhi troupe (Sri Vinayaka Natya Mandali) is set to enthrall the audiences at Bhadrachalam. The theatre group has been performing for the past several years during the important occasions with the encouragement

Kothagudem: The Surabhi theatre group, a family enterprise, with superb acting skill and long association with the stage, is going to perform at the ongoing Vaikunta Ekadasi celebrations. A 45-member Surabhi troupe (Sri Vinayaka Natya Mandali) is set to enthrall the audiences at Bhadrachalam. The theatre group has been performing for the past several years during the important occasions with the encouragement of advisor to the State Government KV Ramanachari.

Ancestors of the Surabhi theatre group --- Vanarasa family -- migrated to Andhra Pradesh from Maharashtra in 1850. The credit of founding the theatre group goes to Vanarasa Govinda Rao in 1885. The theatre group became famous for its mythological and historical plays with time. Their success is attributed to experimentation, making the impossible possible on the stage, producing effects of chirping birds, jumping deer, running streams, an appearance of elephants and bears on stage.

Currently, the eighth-generation artistes are carrying ahead the family tradition. Whoever is the hero, after performing his character on stage, should immediately look after other production-related work. Till 1980, there used to be at least 40 Surabhi theatre groups. Because of the electronic media and celluloid world impact, their number was reduced to mere four comprising 250 family members.

For the first time, the theatre group will present Sitaramakalyanam in the presence of presiding deities of the temple. Earlier, the Vedic scholars of the temple asked the Surabhi group to perform the play at the temple devasthanam and have supplied the script to the theatre group. After rehearsing the play for about a month, they are all geared up to perform the play at the temple devasthanam.

Advisor to the State government KV Ramanachari will visit the temple to see the performance. Sri Vinayaka Natya Mandali secretary Rekamdar Venugopal Rao said that they are dependent on theatre for their livelihood. Nowadays, the theatre is lagging behind compared to other forms of entertainment.

Therefore, Ramanachari is lending every support to the theatre. He expressed gratitude to him as without his cooperation the theatre would not have performed at the temple for the past several years. His patronage to fine arts is unforgettable, he added.

Shanti and Shamili – who have been potraying the roles of Lord Rama and Lakshmana said that they have been playing the males roles since their childhood and hence they feel no inconvenience at all. They added that they are blessed to perform the play in the presence of Lord Rama in the temple.

By: PV Satyanarayana

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