Chennai art space hosts month-long full-length theatre festival CUE
The festival features nine teams presenting full-length productions to promote longer narratives over short-form content.
Arena — The Art Experience, an independent multifunctional art space on East Coast Road, is hosting CUE, a month-long full-length theatre festival. According to The New Indian Express, the festival runs from October 25 to November 29 and features nine teams presenting full-length productions.
Aadithiya Raajan, founder of Showboats Production and co-founder of Arena, said the format aims to promote full-length theatre. He noted that there is a difference between performing a 10-minute play and a 70-minute production.
The organisers received approximately 15 entries from across India, including Kerala and West Bengal. However, the selection was narrowed to primarily Tamil and English productions due to language constraints during evaluation.
Because Arena owns the venue and does not have rental expenses, Raajan said every performing team receives a 50 per cent share of the revenue from ticket sales to ensure artistes receive remuneration.
The festival opened with showcases ‘Naamellam Adhan Meley’ and ‘Blackbird’ on October 25 and November 1. Competitive performances featuring musicals and commercial plays will resume this week.
CUE will conclude on November 29 with ‘Thalaivan Irukkiran’, a showcase production directed by Raajan and Mukesh. Following the results, the organisers plan a gala at a nearby secondary venue to facilitate networking.