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“Lord Polonius : What do you read, my Lord ?
Hamlet : Words, Words, Words.
Lord Polonius : What’s the matter my Lord ?
Hamlet: Between who ?
Lord Polonius : I mean, the matter that you read, my Lord.”
-Shakespeare
The destiny and survival of societies are interlinked with the culture that they are endowed with. Culture is the quality in the society that arises from a commitment for what is regarded as excellence in arts, letters, manners et al.
Culture and its promotion have been deep concerns of the late Dr. Vayala. He had varied interests in arts, especially theater and as such, promoting culture has been at the top of priorities in the minds of his followers. Giving shape to his incomplete cultural concepts was perhaps the best tribute to be extended to him, post demise. No stone was left unturned in the past two years for fulfilling the desire to establish a body for culture in Dr. Vayala’s name. And finally, the Dr.Vayala Cultural Trust was registered on 12th July 2012 with selected trustees endowed with talents in the fields of theatre, art and administration.
The Trust has been formed primarily with the end in view of keeping Dr. Vayala’s relevance alive by highlighting the contributions made by him towards theatre, art and Gandhian thoughts. Right from the formative stage to the registration of the Trust and after, Dr. Vayala’s followers have successfully carried out several events related to theatre and thought, prominent among thembeing :
1. To commemorate Dr. Vayala’s birth anniversary, in 2012April, there was a day’s programme in Trichur consisting of a discussion on the subject of ‘Theme of resistance in the works of Dr. Vayala’, participated by eminent social activists, dramatists and critics like K. Venu, K.S. Raman, Prof. Francis and Dr. ShoranurKarthikeyan and enactment of two classic plays of Vaclav Havel and Samuel Beckett, and a play by Dr. Vayala for children.
2. The death anniversary of Dr. Vayala though observed later after the date of anniversary, marked the theatrical presentation of the play ‘Who is inside’.
3. Various meetings, discussions, seminars and writings have been carried out on important occasions like world theater day, Gandhi jayanthi, women’s day etc. and all the programmes throughout the year were marked by the presence of people prominent in their respective areas and eminently responsive audience.
In the meantime the Foundation functioning in the name of Dr. Vayala in Anchal, his birth place, also became active. They have begun on their part, the work for an institution in Anchal with a library and other facilities for the enlightenment of drama and social service. The Foundation has also instituted an annual award for excellence in culture promotion.
4. Activities related to the formation of Dr. Vayala Trust in Trichur took a very tangible shape by the 2nd death anniversary of Dr. Vayala. A cultural center consisting of a library and an auditorium had already been built and was waiting for opening. An appropriate inaugural programmethat included exhibition of books, pictures, book release, seminars and enactment of plays was carried out from 25th August till 29th August 2013 spread over the new Cultural Center, SahityaAkademi and the Regional Theater. The participants were virtually the who’s who of the cognoscenti ofthe fields representing culture, theatre and politics of Kerala.
5. Dr. Vayala Cultural Center, on the eve of its formation itself, has published three volumes of works connected to Dr. Vayala. The first one, ‘Vayala – Life, Philosophy, Theatre’, (Malayalam) is a study by prominent literati,of Dr. Vayala’s plays, old and new. The volume can rightly claim of containing objective critical evaluation and creative assessment of the plays. The book is gathering readership, as reviews and studies are emerging on the work, in the print and electronic media.
The 2nd work ‘Nuances of Performing Arts’ (English) is an anthology of essays and speeches Dr. Vayala had made on different occasions and venues, on drama. This work has reflections of the original and creative mind of the devoted playwright and teacher of theatre.
The 3rd work, is on the other pet theme for Dr. Vayala, after theatre, theGandhian thought. The articles written on Gandhi by the author is titled ‘Gandhian Philosophy’ (Malayalam) and this work can be another valuable page added to the voluminous existing Gandhian literature.
A translation of Dr. Vayala’s posthumously published drama, the ‘Agreement’ (Kararnama) has appeared now in Hindi. The translators are K.G. Balakrishna Pillai and Prof. ThankamaniAmma who have earlier translated two other plays of Dr. Vayala successfully into the national language. The translation is being received very well in the north.
The Foundation in Anchalselected the reputed legislator – editor – teacher Shri PirappankodeMurali for the first Dr. VayalaVasudevan Pillai Award 2013 and presented him with the award in a well attended ceremony in Kollam.
Dr. Vayala Cultural Center is in the process of evolving into a facility point for debates, conferences and discussions on vital social and cultural aspects that are important for all. The Center is raring to go forward with the participation of scholars, artists and the aamadmi to accomplish these well defined dreams.
For an update on the latest activities on the cultural center and for its publications, kindly contact :
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