Direction : Nipun Dharmadhikari Writer : Charles Lewinsky Cast : Atul Pethe, Parna Pethe
ADLAY KA.. ? Review
This is a play of our times. It challenges forces that are turning our cherished values upside down. A brilliant production of a German play in Marathi raises issues of universal relevance about the role of the theatre, the creative artist in the age of neoliberalism. The play written by Swiss writer Charles Lewinsky is set in a heritage drama theatre hall which faces a 15 per cent municipal budget cut and even closure and is strongly resisted by an ardent actor devoted to the theatre.
The Marathi production ADLAY KA? grew out of the playwright's visit to Pune some time ago, it was translated by Shaunaq Chandorkar and is enacted by prominent actor, director, playwright, theatre educator Atul Pethe and his talented daughter Parna The team got a standing ovation at the end of the play on May 21 night at Savarkar Sabhagriha in Mumbai. Normally Marathi drama audiences are more restrained in their appreciation The play is directed by Nipun Dharmadhikari and produced by Natak Company of Pune.
Superb acting by the father and daughter. There is universal acclaim for this play. Every one one comes across is bowled over. Strongly recommended for audiences not knowing Marathi. There is so much of theatre here that language should not be a barrier.
This is total theatre. Argumentative about ideology in the nature of a Bernard Shaw play but done with absolute aplomb using various theatrical devices. There is so much in it that resonates with our concerns, our dreams in the face of a system that is out to root out all culture, there is one remarkable sentence in the play. Theatre is our oxygen. And that is what the system wants to take away from us. The physical space of the theatre represents us, in a way.
Atul Pethe is best suited for the role, few have such passion for theatre, so much experience and talent and he is so athletic and fit at the age of 58. He has devoted his whole life to this genre playing multiple roles. He is a good thinker too as is evident from his speech while receiving the award instituted by Dr Shreeram Lagoo in memory of his son Tanveer.
It is natural that he has such concern for the proscenium theatre. The irony is that as in the play the famous Bal Gandharva municipal theatre in Pune, named after the legendary actor singer and so close to the heart of theatre lovers, is currently facing redevelopment.
The protagonist plays a series of tricks to confront a girl visiting him as she represents a corporate firm, advises the local municipal council on what to with the aging theatre, how to impose budget cuts and things like that.
He initially meets her posing as a rich buyer and asks her about the deal. He then reveals his true identity of an actor who is deeply disturbed about the impending loss of the theatre he has come to love so much. There ensues a lively confrontation between the two.
She tells him to look at reality, the world is changing, what is the need for a theatre now, people like her have to give market friendly solutions to their firms to save their jobs. He tells her of the insensitive nature of the system, it might turn the theatre space into a prostitute den giving it a nice name of a leisure park offering physical therapy. There is a whole campaign to erase our culture. Parna's training as a clinical psychologist apparently helps her to get into the inner life of the character she plays and of others as well.
Playing the corporate figure, she tells him to think of the importance of numbers, meaning profit margins. He rebuts her saying he won't be in theatre and culture if he thought of profits, numbers.
There is a continuous tussle between the two involving rapid physical movements and a lot of intense acting which must be so physically and mentally demanding. In cinema production, you give one good performance before the camera and it is done. There may be some retakes. But it all takes relatively less time. In theatre you have to do it anew in every performance.
There is also a lot of physical action, the protagonist threatens to shoot the girl with his revolver, she finds out it is not real, then she shoots it in the air and the chandelier falls on the actor, this sends her into panic, he says he is dying, extracts a promise from the girl that she will save the theatre, advise the civic body accordingly. And then he gets up saying it is all drama, he is trying to drive home his point with such tricks. The girl plays her own tricks doing the role of a victim of Nazi regime, she has her own compulsions to act at the behest of the system in her job now.
So all this ensures that there is not a dull movement in the play amidst its serious look at contemporary issues.
Perhaps I have divulged more of the story than I should have. But that should not matter. After all we do revisit classics knowing these well in advance.
Finally, the actor realises we can do without the theatre auditorium, there is a big outside world where the creative artiste can perform. The play does not mention it but indeed that is the theme of Peter Brook's classic book, THE EMPTY SPACE, which shows that theatre can provide an intense experience even when done in most unusual sites like in a prison courtyard or a warehouse. What you do require is commitment both on the part of the performing artistes and an audience hungry for good theatre, sharing of experience.
Coming back to Atul Pethe, he has also done much work outside the proscenium theatre, with and among common people. This includes playwright-scholar G.P. Deshpande's play SATYASHODHAK on the life of social reformer Jyotirao Phule which he did for the municipal union in Pune with a cast comprising sanitation workers. Another was RINGAN done in open spaces in the wake of the murder of the rationalist and Communist leader Govind Pansare
(Vidyadhar Date is a senior journalist and former drama critic of the Times of India.)
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