CHAFA Play Review

The objective of a theatre presentation is to engage, enthrall and educate the audience. The Pune-based Maharashtra Cultural Centre's production of a vintage story by C T Khanolkar upholds all the three tenets, albeit on its own terms. The play deconstructs the rudiments of theatrical syntax - while darkness on stage is meticulously avoided or best minimized by theatre directors as a rule, CHAFA opens in stark darkness in which its hero Vishnu is shown wandering and two smug faced narrators read out his nocturnal journey that is going nowhere.

By and by it is revealed that the obstinate loafer wandering at night is a temperamental school teacher in a small village. He is a restless soul who likes to wander about but his life remains shackled to his mundane teaching job for the sake of his younger sister Kashi who is an invalid. Brutally frank and honest, Vishnu follows his own diktats in life. He cannot be bothered with politeness or the niceties of society and he often gets involved in fracases with the authorities on account of his moody nature. However, he is acknowledged as a noble soul even by his foul-mouthed nonagenarian neighbour, a widow who tries to tone down Vishnu's angst to no avail.

Meanwhile Vishnu sees the reflection of his life in the frangipani (chafa) tree en route to school; he often converses with the tree on his way. His life takes an unforeseen turn when he offers his outstation colleague, a young lady called Sandhya stay in his house. Sandhya has escaped her rich, feudal and corpulent cousin's big house, fraught with domestic unrest. She takes refuge in Vishnu's humble quarters. Sandhya brings with her the enthusiasm of youth and a defiant frankness and manages to rein in Vishnu's violent verbal tirades. She even takes over the domestic duties like cooking and cleaning - in which Vishnu took immense pride in doing. Vishnu's life appears in new bloom like the flowers from his dear frangipani tree. But really, can the basic personality of such a rough-hewn man undergo a total transformation? Can the wandering soul be tied down to the post of domesticity?

C T Khanolkar delves deep into the realms of human nature and its ongoing tussle with the realities of life. A thought-provoking literary work that certainly deserves a theatrical adaptation. Rishikesh Petwe's reinterprets the story for theatre retaining its rich literary timbre and that is admirable. The dialogue is meaningful as well as philosophical, capturing the essence of a bygone rural autocratic culture - represented by the narrow-minded school headmaster who chides Vishnu for implementing unconventional ways of teaching and who takes a moral objection to Sandhya's stay with Vishnu.

Director Sachin Joshi's innovative presentation - performance running parallel with two narrators providing the ambience and the details of the situations, is interesting. The simple stage design such as the barred window through which the nonagenarian widow holds her conversations or the red footlight representing the cooking fire is effective. The actors play out their parts with great conviction ranging from the volatile Vishnu (Sumit Ranade), docile Kashi (Amruta Patwardhan) to the rebellious Sandhya (Mansi Gokhale).

Lighting by Tejas Deodhar deserves a special mention as it plays a vital role in this play in lending tone and texture to the narrative. The blue light enhancing the eeriness of the night or the red flicker of the stove - lighting has been used most effectively. An innovative presentation that a theatre buff cannot afford to miss.

*Deepa Ranade is a film and theatre reviewer. She has been an entertainment journalist for over fifteen years.