Has something bitten him?”- I anxiously arose from my seat. “He is only acting” said someone from the audience firmly, and pulled me back to my seat. I am at a friend’s house watching Anand Sami perform two brilliant Tamil solo plays.

"Private performances such as this one give the artist proximity to the audience and their comments and reactions can boost the energy and talent level”, says the multi talented Anand Sami. Anand hails from Kancheepuram. He arrived in Chennai armed with an MBA -- to work like the rest of his friends, at multinational companies.

The play directed by Madoko Okada, Ugetsu Monogatari (The Lust of the Serpent), staged at the ITFoK is a story of darkness and fear inside the human mind. Toyoo, the hero, is fascinated by Manago, a serpent-woman who belongs to another world. He tries his best to get rid of her, but in the end realizes that he loves her howsoever she may be and her love for him is eternal and true. Asked why he chose this story, which is based on a traditional 10th century myth, Okada says that one reasons why he chose this story is in order to reintroduce the earlier value system among the younger people of Japan who were losing their traditional knowledge and wisdom.

This is a common story taught in schools and, therefore, known to most people. It is a story based on the supernatural, but it is not a typical story. The source of death and the spirit are different from other classical stories.

Nelda Castillo is an actor and director whose work represents an important milestone on the contemporary Cuban stage. Since 1984, she has done rigorous research on the actor’s means and method of expression and the stage, exploring the ways in which the domain of acting, training, and techniques and the assembly process interact. In the process, she has created a poetic language, an idiom of expression capable of integrating and renovating the best contributions of Cuban tradition.

Her directorial venture at the ITFoK, Visiones De la Cubanosofia (Visions of Cubanosofia), depicts characters from the past and the present of Cuba, and creates a symbolic structure conformed by two scaffolds (one of construction and the other of support). The two iconic representatives Castillo has chosen are Jose Marti, the Cuba’s national hero and the Virgin of Charity of Copper (patroness deity of Cuba).

The Grips Theater in Berlin, Germany is a well-known and well-respected theater for children and youth located at the Hansaplatz. Originating out of this is the Grips Theater Movement that has been providing room for self-expression, to children across nearly 50 countries. It is a special method meant to look at the real problems of children and present plays to find a solution for young audiences. These are realistic plays that have an optimistic ending and the roles of children are enacted by amateur or professional adult actors. This movement completed 25 years in India in October after it was first brought to Pune in the mid-1980s by actor Mohan Agashe. Present on the occasion to celebrate this event was Volker Ludwig (73), the founder of the movement. Excerpts from the interview: