PARAMESHWARAN
The Last King of Singapore
Aliwal Arts Centre
9th & 10th July 2015
ABOUT THE PLAY
As the title represents, this folklore is about prince Parameswaran, the last King of Singapore. The story takes stage in the training grounds with the prince and his blind master. The master observes that the prince’s dynamism in winning battles is at the risk of others’ lives. He decides to stop the training short and to instill the right virtues to the young prince.
He brings to life the story of a banyan tree and a magical snake, which has made the tree its home. The story takes several twists and turns, and the conclusion is left at the hands of the audience. The master stops the story and discusses with the audience on alternatives to end the story, placing importance on the definition of home and teaching an important lesson in what makes a home - the space or the people??
CAST MEMBERS
CREATIVE TEAM
DIRECTOR,MUSIC DIRECTOR & LYRICS
Rajesh Kannan
CREATIVE DIRECTOR & TRANSCREATOR
Anandha Kannan
PLAYWRIGHT
R Chandaran, ACT 3 Theatrics
LIVE MUSIC
Sivaramer Prabu E
S Raja Kumaran
Viknesh
TECHNICAL MANAGER
Selvaraj, Dazzle Beat
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COSTUMES
Kalah Rajesh Kannan
MARKETING & PUBLICITY
Karls Karthikeyan
MAKE UP
Mohd Shajir Khan
Krishnna Kumarri
Safinah Wahab
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SETS & PROPS
Surendran Rachandran
Aravindraj S Gopal
PRODUCTION TEAM
Sarah
Abuthalifu
BELOVED AKTORS
Samy
Dinesh
Umy
Vish
Sandi Perumal
S S Vikneswaran
Kishore Kumaran
Ranathevan
Manjula Balakrishnan
Soundararajan Jeeva
Vijayarethinam Jeeva
SPECIAL THANKS
R Chandaran, ACT 3 Theatrics
Japhire Gopi Kannan, JA Group of Companies
Alazhiya Pandiyan, Tamil Murasu
Raju, Goodday Impex
JK Sara, Tantra Inc
Venugopal, TLLPC
Nallu, STTU
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Parameswaran is a fun folklore of the young Prince Paramesewaran, the last king of Singapore. The story begins on the training grounds of Prince Paramesewaran. The Master, though blind in both eyes comes to realize the obsessions of the Prince, with winning his battles at all costs. The Warcraft Master decides to stop the sparring session in order to instill the right virtues on the young Prince Paramesewaran. He gathers the trainees around him and reveals the story of a Banyan tree and a magical snake, which had made the Banyan tree its home. Words come to life as the musical story takes several twists and turns. How the story eventually concludes is truly in the hands of the audience in attendance.
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The Parameswaran production is inspired by this one singular question. What does home mean? The answers may escape us but as we delve deeper we may need to ask ourselves “Is home the land we were born in?” Or is home the people we live with? Parameswaran, the Rajah of South East Asia might not necessarily define ‘home’ in any of these definitive ways but his actions, rule and code of conduct have definitely set us off to seek further and probe deeper about this very important question. We have carefully crafted this folklore intertwined with an historical figure in the forms of ‘ Koothu’ or musical.
- Rajesh Kannan, Play Director
FROM THE DIRECTOR
An eventful, meaningful and productive year has unfolded since we started a theatre company for children. It has been a humbling, blessful and blissful journey to have created innumerable joyful moments in the tender hearts that participated with great vigor and vibrancy in our two projects Singa and Jing Jak. We now feel honored to be able to present Parameswaran of the Singa Series. It has presented us with another opportunity to work with children theatre doyen R Chandran. His involvement has inspired us to accentuate a Singaporean flavor to our children productions.
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- Ma Govindaraju,
Advisor, AK Theatre Ltd
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