T’puram: A seven-day celebration of theatre, literature and culture will be held at Ayyankali Hall, Suryakrishna Moorthy Nagar, from Thursday to Oct 14, with the district committee of Samskara Sahithi organising a State Professional Drama Festival and Cultural Festival.The festival will bring together professional theatre productions, cultural programmes, lectures, folk theatre, art competitions and a trade fair. Several prominent personalities from the political, social, literary and cultural fields are scheduled to participate in the programmes.The festival will be inaugurated on Thursday by Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and MLA C R Mahesh will preside over the inaugural function. CM V D Satheesan will inaugurate the valedictory ceremony on Oct 14, while culture minister P C Vishnunadh will distribute the festival awards.Veteran theatre artist Kannur Vasootty will be presented with the Samskara Sahithi Theatre Award on Sunday. Health minister K Muraleedharan will inaugurate the award ceremony.A programme titled ‘Snehapoorvam Sahithi’ will be held on Oct 12 and will be inaugurated by minister Sunny Joseph. Cultural personalities and office-bearers of various cultural academies will be honoured during the event.A memorial programme titled ‘Sukumaram’, commemorating actor Sukumaran, will be held on Tuesday. Home minister Ramesh Chennithala will inaugurate the function, while revenue minister A P Anilkumar will present the award. Actor Maniyanpilla Raju will receive the Sukumaran Award.The drama festival will feature seven productions. ‘Bhootani’, presented by Thiruvananthapuram Samskruthi, will be staged on Thursday, followed by ‘Dam’ by Sachethana on Friday. ‘Nilavu Paranjathu’ by Kollam Echo Theatre will be staged on Saturday, while ‘Orukkam’ by Rangabhasha, Kozhikode, will be presented on Sunday.The schedule includes ‘Shwasam’ by Sankeerthana, Kozhikode, on Monday, ‘Padayottam’ by Souparnika, Thiruvananthapuram, on Tuesday and ‘Mainakkunj’ by Nidhi Nataka Sangham, Thiruvananthapuram, on Oct 14. A special awards evening will also be held on the concluding day.
