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Art for Resilience

Art for Resilience

Chevittorma

Community Theatre from the Tidal Flood-Affected Tracts of Kerala

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Chevittorma is a community theatre from flood-affected Puthenvelikkara, blending local traditions and lived experiences to portray resilience and reclaim narratives amid the unfolding climate crisis.

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Overview

Chevittorma is a community theatre production emerging from the tidal flood-affected shores of Puthenvelikkara in central Kerala. It was staged on a water-logged platform and brought to life through the collective storytelling of residents who had never performed theatre before. Directed by Dr. Sreejith Ramanan, the production blends lived memory with local performance traditions such as Chavittu Nadakam to portray daily life under water. Through its evocative narrative, Chevittorma positions art as both a witness to and an instrument against the unfolding climate crisis.

More than just a performance, Chevittorma became a process of reflection, resilience, and reclamation. It opened space for a community to speak of its vulnerabilities and strengths through its own aesthetic language. In doing so, it offered an alternative to dominant climate narratives, one rooted in the gestures, rhythms, and voices of those most affected.

Overview

Chevittorma is a community theatre production emerging from the tidal flood-affected shores of Puthenvelikkara in central Kerala. It was staged on a water-logged platform and brought to life through the collective storytelling of residents who had never performed theatre before. Directed by Dr. Sreejith Ramanan, the production blends lived memory with local performance traditions such as Chavittu Nadakam to portray daily life under water. Through its evocative narrative, Chevittorma positions art as both a witness to and an instrument against the unfolding climate crisis.

More than just a performance, Chevittorma became a process of reflection, resilience, and reclamation. It opened space for a community to speak of its vulnerabilities and strengths through its own aesthetic language. In doing so, it offered an alternative to dominant climate narratives, one rooted in the gestures, rhythms, and voices of those most affected.

The production of Chevittorma was grounded in months of participatory engagement with local residents from flood-prone areas. Rehearsals were conducted in public spaces within the community, often under challenging physical conditions, including persistent waterlogging. These shared spaces became sites of conversation, conflict resolution, and collective healing.

As the story unfolded through rehearsals, it began to serve as a mirror to the community’s memories and aspirations. The script was shaped collaboratively, drawing from oral histories, lived experience, and improvisation. Theatrical conventions were adapted to reflect local idioms, and performance styles were chosen for their cultural relevance and accessibility.

The impact of Chevittorma extended far beyond its place of origin. The play was selected for the Bharat Rang Mahotsav, India’s International Theatre Festival in New Delhi. It has since been staged at multiple venues, bringing the voices of Kerala’s coastal communities into national conversations on climate vulnerability and justice.

A key concern guiding the work was how to challenge dominant proscenium theatre and create a form that draws from the available bodies, spaces, and materials of the community. The aim was to dissolve the boundary between performer and audience, and to create a living theatre rooted in the lived politics of the marginalized. By anchoring the politics of imagination within everyday experiences, the production gave rise to a new language of theatre, one that is deeply embedded in place, pain, and people’s power.