On 9th October 2009, the Times of India Crest edition in collaboration with producer-director Feroz Khan presented OUT OF BOUNDS by Rajesh Gopie, a Johannesburg based playwright and actor. In this one-man play Gopie plays many characters that tell the story of an Indian working class family on the outskirts of Durban. Apartheid was at its peak then.

The play is primarily a tongue-in-cheek take about Indians in South Africa. It talks about people who have asked themselves who they are and where they come from. Performed at the Sophia College auditorium, Gopie brought to life the emotions of young Lal growing up in Inanda and Phoenix during and after Apartheid and the racial discrimination it brought about. Minimalistic set design and a straight jacket light structure, along with the occasional audio visual aid helped to communicate the sentiments in the most effective fashion.

Rajesh Gopie followed the Peter Brooks theory of performance where an intense black comedy was being performed using the body and space alone. It''s a relief to watch an actor present an entire story synchronising just his physical self and the available space without seeking refuge in stylised add-ons in terms of lights, fancy costume, or lavish ostentatious sets.

Though the performance was earnest, it did seem at times that the actor was catering to an audience, more prepared for a stand-up comedy rather than a theatre performance. The use of spotlights did help to some extent in laying emphasis on the particular culture and period but the uniformity of costume and expression could have been avoided.

OUT OF BOUNDS first opened in 1999. Director Tina Johnson has allowed the performer to make absolute use of space by not restricting the performance to calculated stage space and that is a virtue. One wonders though if the usage of the audio visual medium dilutes the overall impact of a confident performance. Other theatrical devices like music and even mime can help attain the desired result.

At the end of the evening''s performance, one could not help but thank the team of Rajesh Gopie and Tina Johnson for reminding us that good theatre doesn''t necessarily mean ostentatious presentation but an honest expression of emotion can achieve the desired result.

*The writer is a theatre person from Kolkata but is presently based in Mumbai. He is co-founder of Theatrecian, regarded as the most prolific English theatre group in Kolkata. The group also performs in Mumbai and in other parts of the country.