Artist of Sylvia | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
play by athira nikthil Sylvia The opening begins with the young Sylvia Plath meeting Ted Hughes, whom she would later marry. What follows is an intense life story from the American poet that rises and sinks like a poem. Athira attempts to bring to life the person and poet that Sylvia was.
Inspired by SylviaA 2003 biopic on Plath, Athira dips into the poet’s complex personal and literary life to create a narrative that does justice to her personality. Athira says, “I watched the biopic on her, spent hours researching her, read and re-read her poetry, listened to Scratchy podcasts of Sylvia and her children and mother… before taking up this project.” She employs music, dance, poetry and literature as her main theatrical instruments.
Athira Nikathil | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
It was when Athira came out of a phase of clinical depression that she decided to work on Sylvia. Diagnosed with clinical depression, Plath is known to have struggled with dark episodes throughout her adult life, before committing suicide at age 30. “When I got back to the clarity stage, I wanted to make a play and I thought why not Plath with whom I had always been fascinated,” she says. Having earned her BA in English Literature, Plath has always been an inspiration. “It was only when I had a personal experience with depression that I felt like I understood what Plath went through,” she says. “I wanted to take the poet’s story to more people. Was,” says Athira.
This is Athira’s second directorial venture, her first play, blank page, was staged before the epidemic. He had already built a motley crew of people who were passionate about theatre. “I didn’t want anyone from acting schools. I wanted them who love the art of theatre,” says Athira.
theater group
The crew became a collective called Thembu. “Though we call it a women’s theater collective, we have male members as well,” says Athira. Core members of the collective include Anjana Shree, Ahalya Prithvi Praveen, Krishnapriya Tilakan, Jayakrishna KJ, Ragi Babu, Neetu Chandran, Akhil Vijayan, Anoop KV, Amaldeep Pradeep and Jathin Latha Shaji.
The collective conducted online theater workshops and talks during the months of lockdown. Athira, who has done her MA in Theater from the School of Drama, Thrissur, says she enjoys directing plays as much as acting. He is currently working as a Theater Instructor at Choice School, Kochi.
sylvia, The 50-minute interactive play produced by Thambu stars Krishnapriya Thilakan, better known as Kaapi on her Instagram handle, with Plath and Adarsh Sabu playing the role of Ted Hughes. Ahalya, Anjana, Pranav Unni, Austin Benny, Akshay, Akhil VK, Karthik Kumar and Samarth P Anilkumar play other characters in the play. While the costumes have been designed by Shani Joy, the art has been handled by Sreedath PR. Light design and execution is by Subin KK and Jeetu Varghese, Vishnu Sheeja Vinod and Sam provide technical support.
The play has been staged several times in Kochi and Athira is getting an encouraging response. “A lot of people came up to me to say that it touched a raw nerve. Depression is still not talked about as much as it should be. I could see that many viewers could relate to the characters on stage.”
Silvia is suitable for children over the age of 10. It will be staged on May 14 at 7 pm at Ala Theater and Cultural Centre, Mulanthuruthy. Call 9447194411 for tickets.