Set in Calcutta, there is nothing that is remarkable about Manjima Chatterjee�s play, which tries hard to exalt the trivial. Moreover it�s got a loose ended script, with little understanding of scene, characterization and character development. What is does have in large doses is a self-conscious style of writing that barely has any depth. Think of the whole affair as an elevated soap opera (in abridged form) in which the protagonist Rimi is charged with the murder of a terrorist.
The writer has a medley of themes such as terrorism, political tension, psychological break-down and betrayal at her disposal � all these designed to create an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. But they become contrived means to an even more superfluous end. Everything here is reduced to qualify the estranged relationship that Rimi has with her ex-husband Mridul (Shaun Williams). But even this relationship leaves us with nothing to reflect on.
A past affair and a jealous friend only serve to heighten the mediocrity of it all. Ratnabali Bhattacharjee�s portrayal of the protagonist-heroine is replete with the clich�d gestures and the body language of a woman who finds herself in the inquisitor�s chair, at the beginning of the play. Her inquisitor (Adir Bhat), presumably one of the police does no better. The story moves between the past and the present but change of scene and place is treated ever so casually.
For instance in one scene, during the latter part of the play, the audience is never quite sure whether Rimi is in prison (i.e. at the inquisitor�s table) or is in Mridul�s home or elsewhere. It is only at the mention of a drink or when she smokes a cigarette (you want to groan at the character inconsistency of it all) that you realize that she could be in a pub or a restaurant. The one bit in the play where you feel that the story has something to reveal is when Rimi finds herself reliving the moment that has led to her incarceration.
At least there one also has the sense of an old, deserted and crumbling building coming alive. To this end, the natural, verdant setting of the Horniman Circle Garden where the performance took place helped. The unforeseen appearance of a cat only made it better. A live, prowling cat instead of imagined pigeons was no doubt some relief to this largely indulgent piece of drama that gains nothing in particular from Akarsh Khurana�s direction or from the sum cast of the actors performing it.
*The writer is Editor of this site, a theatre critic and an academic keenly interested in Theatre and Performance Studies.
