Mobile phones and the Internet have changed the way we communicate and are an integral part of our lives. We all have our unique relationships with our mobile phones and are constantly upgrading them. Mobile phone operators vie with each other to offer the best plans to their consumers. You can be connected for Rs 99. But Rohit Tiwari of Theatrewala theatre group wonders if we are enslaved to our phones and feels that people have forgotten etiquette while they are glued to their phones. Tiwari's observations in local trains in which people now seem mesmerised with their phones gave him the idea for this play. "The most interesting aspect of the play is that each and every character is very real", he says.
Tiwari's drama company, Theatrewaalas was first conceived in the summer of 2007. Starting its operations in Indore, the company spread its network in Mumbai and has been active in the city since the past two years. "We started with five people and now, we are a team of more than thirty people. When we were in Indore, performing in Mumbai seemed like a distant dream. It feels good to be here", he says.
Tiwari recollects the time spent during rehearsals when he had to stop actors from using their phones. Habits don't die easily. But it was during one of these rehearsals, when an actor asked his friend to get his phone recharged, did the name of the play first cross his mind. "I have seen my friends getting worried about their mobile balance and running from pillar to post at odd hours to get a recharge done. Hence, I felt this to be an apt name for the play", he says.
The story unfolds with the lives of people living in a generation when there were no phones to the present day where virtually everybody has a phone, and sometimes more than one phone. The message of the play is to remind the audience that a mobile phone is just an electronic device which should not become a necessity. "There is a thin line between the technologically savvy and the technologically obsessed. We try to make this line clearer in a funny way", the director says.
The play starts with an interesting introduction by Tiwari himself. It then moves to an Indian home. The lady of the house is obsessed with talking on the phone and in the process evolves a heated yet funny argument between her husband and her. The play then goes backwards to a time where there were no mobile phones and tries to draw a comparison between the general attitudes of people with regards to communication.
The next scene is about a young teenage couple who plan to meet for a date. They eventually end up spending more time staring into their mobile screens than actually having a conversation with each other. We are all familiar with smileys on mobile phones. Tiwari directs an entire scene, where both the actors are texting each other while two fully clothed actors with painted faces stand next to them. These two actors become the voice and expression of the exchange being carried on through text messages. It was interesting to watch how Tiwari played around with a small cast in a creative manner.
The scene that followed was probably the most relatable section of the play. Set in a men's compartment of a local train, it comprised of a businessman talking to his goods dealer; a boyfriend taking to his girlfriend and a frustrated married man talking to his family, with other supporting characters filling in the gaps with quirky one-liners. It was relatable mainly because in the city many of us have observed people in the local trains. Like when the boyfriend is so busy taking to his girlfriend that he does not realise that a stranger has gone through all the contents of his bag or when everyone intently listens to the woes of the frustrated family guy- these are familiar situations.
Habits change only when people seek to make the change consciously. For this play at least, we certainly put our phones away while the show was in progress.
*Nishtha Juneja likes to act and write about theatre. Nishtha Juneja is passionate about dance and food and has completed a post-graduate diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute for Communication (XIC).
List Your Play