Pathey Nimidam, literally "just ten minutes" in Tamil, was launched as a festival by Ravindran Drama Group (RDG) celebrating Tamil theatre-making in 2013.
In its eighth edition, the festival, founded by festival director and theatre practitioner Hemang Yadav, will spotlight the idea of the underprivileged as well as other issues close to their hearts.
"Pathay Nimidam has garnered a lot of attention, not just among the Tamil theatre-goers in Singapore, but also among non-Tamil and non-Indian theatre-goers. A regular audience has definitely built up for this annual event. The Esplanade has played an important role in this by presenting Pathay Nimidam as part of Kalaa Utsavam last year and as part of the Raga Series this year, which functions like a quality certificate for the production," Yadav told Connected to India.
Being held from January 28-30, 2022, tickets for the festival are available online.
Events like Pathey play a large role in showcasing the Tamil culture of Singapore. They showcase the variety in the Tamil theatre industry and enhance the cultural scope of the Singaporean Tamil identity, Yadav said.
"Events like Pathay extend the reach of Tamil culture and shape an audience base for Tamil theatre as well as future bilingual/multilingual/multicultural performances. At the same time, young audience members are also attracted to Tamil theatre through Pathey’s bite-size nature thanks to its ten-minute play form," he added.
The event is set to evolve and expand in the future. Non-Tamil practitioners have started adopting Tamil theatre practices or cultural norms into their works, or casting Tamil actors in their non-Tamil works.
"Pathey Nimidam in its current form will also continue to function as an invitation and introduction to Tamil theatre and culture for those who are new to them," Yadav said, signing off.
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