|
|
 |
|
|
BANE |
| Theatre practitioners and organisations in India are being able to bring down international solo performances to our cities and that's a nice thing. For starters, it's simpler logistically and financially to host a small team of international artists, and second, it's doable when there are no big sets or other challenging technicalities to contend with. Solo performances with no frills can be done in smaller and alternative spaces and that's another blessing. Mumbai audiences recently had the opportunity to watch two award-winning solo performances- BANE and HeLa; the two plays could not be more distinct from the other but both shared the wonderful ability to engage their viewers and had strong performers.
BANE by Joe Bone and his musician-partner on stage Ben Roe is a serious yet funny exploration of the anti-hero and the western gangster film. Its immediate reference to the comic superhero series Batman in which Bane appears as a villain notwithstanding, the play becomes a racy alternative and the next best thing to watching a film of the same genre. You might think there's a parody afoot in this staging and yes, it is subtle but for the most part Joe Bone assumes the various characters with genuineness and flair. He completely relies on his voice and creates the desired setting with his entries and exits across the multiple locations in his story.
The dramatic effect and tension is heightened by Ben Roe's guitar at appropriate junctures. The music is right there but it's unobtrusive. The entire act proves that whatever the medium- be it a book, a film or a play as it is in this case can be exploited to derive the required tenor. It's just fun to see something like this on stage and Bone also artfully manages to bring in the back stories of his various characters. There's a BANE 2 and a 3 as well and it would be an experience to watch all three together someday as one might watch a film trilogy back to back. This performance was made possible by the Jose Thomas Performing Arts Centre in Kochi and by Evam from Chennai.
|
 |
|
|
HeLa |
| Q Theatre Productions (QTP) is celebrating its 15th anniversary. This group of die-hard theatre enthusiasts brought down HeLa (produced by Scotland's Iron Oxide theatre company) and staged it at Sitara Studio, a new venue, which could potentially become a nice, cozy and regular space for plays. Directed by Graham Eatough and written as well as performed by Adura Onashile, HeLa, which is based on the book by Rebecca Skloot, is about Henrietta Lacks, a black woman whose body cells transformed scientific and medical research. HeLa denotes the scientific abbreviation of Henrietta Lack's cells which were taken from various parts of her body when she was admitted for treatment of cervical cancer at the John Hopkins hospital in Baltimore in the USA in 1951.
What makes the production special though is not just the factual account of Lacks' life since her cells were first used for research but the consequences of the act on her person, which has far-reaching racial as well as ethical implications. The cells which accounted for path breaking medical discoveries right up to our times were taken from Lacks' body without her permission. Neither did the immense benefits, social or financial percolate down to the Lacks' family if the account holds true. It is this imbalance that the play seeks to address. But in doing so, it is neither preachy nor judgemental. It assumes a greater worthiness and dignity in making this unusual woman flesh and blood and tells the story of her remarkable, immortal cell line.
Effortlessly narrated and enacted by Onashile, the parallel narratives- the scientific and the personal come alive with a blackboard, a hospital stretcher, a cabinet, a lectern, some stools, projected images and a few other handy props. Onashile is seamless in her transitions from the narrator to the characters she plays and vice-versa. She is crisp while dealing with the scientific content and at the same time evokes Henrietta Lacks' persona as a very real woman and not just the body that she might have been for her famous researchers, some of whom went on to win Nobel prizes.
Graham Eatough's mis-en-scene is intelligent and evocative; the latter comes through quite beautifully in the moments when Lacks assumes a supernatural, out of body movement as she rises from the stretcher. In this collaborative piece, Onashile and Eatough focus on the Science, which is an integral part of Lacks' story. They are neither dismissive nor moralistic about it; there's in fact an understated respect for the scientific endeavours and achievements made possible because of the HeLa cells. This combined with their quest for more humane answers and deeper introspection of our attitudes makes HeLa an immersive and a reflective experience.
*Deepa Punjani is the Editor of this website.
|
List Your Play
