Sapan Saran Writer, Actor [English and Hindi Theatre ]
Which is the last best play you saw? MAIN HUUN YUSUF AUR YEH HAI MERA BHAI, directed by Mohit Takalkar (Aasakta Kalamanch).
Your favourite 'adda' to see a play We have been working very hard (at Tamaasha theatre) to seed the city with new performance venues. So it's difficult to pick one ! We have performed in gyms and libraries, art galleries and bars. But I enjoy the shows that we do at the bars ! Your post-show drink is guaranteed :) Among the more conventional spaces -- who would differ on this one -- Prithvi Theatre!
Your favourite playwright Girish Karnad among Indian playwrights.
Your favourite play-character I have a classical choice for this one: Willy Loman from Arthur Miller's DEATH OF A SALESMAN.
A play you would like to see filmed. Why? If I really like a play, I'm not sure if I would want to see it as a film. I think the medium (stage) has a definite role to play. But yes there are (way too many) plays that would do much better as films,because they have been envisioned using film vocabulary, to begin with.
A novel/short story you would like to see on stage? Why? Many, but the one that I can think of at the moment is - The Moon and Sixpence by W Somerset Maugham. It's a story that I LOVE. It has something beautiful to say ... about artists, about passion, about madness ! The story keeps jumping in time and the writer is also a character in it -- I think the possibilities to 'play' around are plenty.
The most hilarious play you have seen ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, written by Tom Stoppard. NOISES-OFF, written by Michael Frayn.
A play, which is over-hyped I am not sure ... BATTLEFIELD by Peter Brooks. It was still incredible for me to have seen it. I could strike one thing off my bucket list - Watch a Peter Brooks play!
An important play (but ignored) Many complex foreign classics continue to be ignored in India.Whereas Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov are staged regularly. How many productions does one see of Genet's, Kundera's, or even of Kafkas's work! Just not enough.
A play character you would like to ''dialogue'' with Oh my God, imagine if I could speak to Gregor Samsa, from Kafka's METAMORPHOSIS!
A passage from an important play that you can recite Another classic! Marc Antony's speech from Shakespeare's JULIUS CAESAR: ''Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears ...'' This was one of the first pieces I memorised.
A classical play that you should have read A couple of old Greek plays on that list! Sigh.
A play that changed your perception about the theatre Samuel Beckett's WAITING FOR GODOT, and subsequently many plays of the absurdist tradition. The ideas/philosophies that these plays dealt with have had a huge impact on me. In fact this is why I wrote – WAITING FOR NASEER because these plays helped me discover questions - that are my own.
After reading Godot, I realised that there are things only theatre can do.
How do you regard the Mumbai theatre scene? The Mumbai theatre scene is unbelievably vibrant at the moment! There are all kinds of performances happening in all kinds of spaces across the city. Theatre actors are the busiest people around! The Mumbai theatrewallas continue to operate with such enthusiasm without the help of any major grants/fundings. In Mumbai, we do theatre purely because we believe that it is important. And we find ways.
Have you read any interesting books/articles concerning the theatre? Why did you find them interesting? I am currently reading a book called - The Director's Voice. It is a collection of interviews of twenty leading theatre directors from contemporary American theatre. It gives an exceptional glimpse into the minds of some of theatre's most noted directors. I also enjoy reading the website Howlround. Some of the articles on it provide great insights into the theatre scene across the world.
If you have ever been a part of a theatre production/s, can you recall an event that was insightful, significant or simply humorous? I have been working on a programme called Arts with Care for St Jude. St Jude has child care centres that provide shelter to children (and their families) who are being treated for cancer at the Tata Memorial Hospital. The idea is to create art encounters for the children at these centres. These sessions have been incredibly insightful. A child strips down your performance to the core idea and responds unabashedly to it. It forces you to think very hard about your own work. Children can sense things adults struggle to reason with.
Can you think of a foreign production that you found remarkable? Why? Haven't been exposed to too many. But the production of ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD that I saw at Shakespeare's library, Washington DC, has stayed with me for long. I also enjoyed seeing a few Moliere plays when I was in France. See, that's the thing. There are just not enough good (and affordable) foreign productions that come to India. What do we do? Pay Rs 2000 and sit in the last row of NCPA's Bhabha Theatre and catch JEEVES AND WOOSTER? That shouldn't be my only option ... right?
Your favourite director/actor/music or set designer • Directors - Neel Chaudhuri and my mentor - Sunil Shanbag. • Actor- Jyoti Dogra - from the work that I have seen recently. • Music- I like the music of several plays - composed by various people. I loved the music in BOMBAY JAZZ ... what Kaizad Gherda did in COCK was so cool ... and so many of Sunil Shanbag's plays. • Set- Vivek Jadhav has to his credit some incredible set designs. I also liked the design for Yuki Ellias' production of Eric Kaiser's play CHARGE.
A significant Indian production that you may have witnessed SEX, MORALITY AND CENSORSHIP, directed by Sunil Shanbag.
Life in the theatre without the humble batata-wada or the cutting chai... or can you recall the best gastronomic experience you've had in the precincts of the theatre to date? Without chai ... !! You serious ? You can't do theatre without drinking chai. Blasphemy.
Sapan Saran
