Cinema VinesDarshana Rajendran, a busy film actress, has carved out a dedicated space for theatre in her hectic schedule. She is now set to appear in ‘Under the Mangosteen Tree’, a production by the Chennai‑based collective Perch, slated to open in Kottayam on September 11. The play, directed by Rajiv Krishnan, weaves together characters and scenes from roughly ten of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer’s stories rather than presenting a single narrative adaptation.
Having first seen the production a few years ago, Rajendran became an admirer of its creative approach and eventually joined the revival last year. When the team reached out to her, she was initially unsure whether she could juggle the role with her film commitments, but the prospect of contributing to a work with its own performance history—having been staged in cities like Chennai—ultimately persuaded her.
The play’s non‑linear structure demands that performers shift rapidly between multiple characters and storylines. Rajendran portrays figures from works such as ‘Poovan Pazham’ and ‘Mathilukal’, moving from one role to another within minutes. She explained that keeping track of each character’s emotional and physical state while maintaining the overarching plot is challenging yet exhilarating.
‘Under the Mangosteen Tree’ draws from Basheer’s celebrated pieces including ‘Mathilukal’, ‘Poovan Pazham’, ‘Shabdangal’, ‘Viswavikhyamaya Mookku’ and ‘Neela Velicham’. Basheer himself appears as a connective thread, alternating between narrator, participant and witness across the scenes. Staging the play in English posed a particular challenge in Kerala, where Basheer’s work is deeply rooted in Malayalam culture. Rajendran noted that the visual and theatrical language of the production preserves the essence of the originals, allowing audiences to feel the stories’ spirit even in translation.
One of the play’s strengths, according to Rajendran, is the freedom it grants actors. Characters are not bound by conventional notions of age or gender, enabling performers to move fluidly across Basheer’s varied worlds. This flexibility, she said, makes the role both interesting and rewarding, as actors are not confined to a single persona but can explore a spectrum of identities within the same performance.
