3rd Bell Production’s latest play has an unusual title. Like the title, the play too is out of the ordinary and becomes a captivating expression of the horrors of human suffering. A brutal reality unfolds with the help of innovative theatre techniques that include movement and sound. The conventional way of telling a story is replaced by a rhythmic mode, which the actors are able to sustain well.
As one enters the auditorium, the obscure set is highlighted with sharp shafts of lights that try to pierce the darkness. The light reveals an imposing, jagged object suspended from the top. Its symbolism is potent. Look upon it as dried tree branches or sharp thorns hanging over famine-ridden human beings. The object at once becomes a symbol of broken lifelines. And yet this sculpture like object is open to multiple interpretations. Below the object is a small platform with a vermilion covered deity- actually a stone. At the back is a raised platform that runs parallel to the one in the front. An earthen pot stands at the centre of it. These objects are barely visible, casting an ominous shadow around.
The play opens with the chanting of a Sanskrit shloka, and in the darkness, the human bodies slowly emerge in continuous slow motions. The soundless intermingling, rising, melting, floating, twisting, and turning of the bodies become a manifestation of the emergence of life on our planet. But it isn’t long before the notion of life gives way to death as the bodies in motion simultaneously represent carcases of cows and the vultures that thrive on them.
The script is unique in the sense that it comprises three different stories by three writers- Rajiv Soni, Brijesh Shah and Upedra Ashk- all belonging to different generations and yet director Dhanendra Kawade has done a fine job of adapting all the three stories in a manner that unifies them. It is nearly impossible to isolate the three stories. A young, sixteen-year old boy and the spectre of famine link the stories. To that effect the adaptation works very well. To achieve his objective, Dhanendra has explored the dynamics of movement, props and sound with the eye of a designer. A new idiom is instantly created.
The play projects the eternal conflict between men and nature, men and men, between the powerful and the weak and ultimately between life and death. The events are predictable but it is the visualisation that makes them fresh. The dialogues are written in simple spoken language but the actors- especially the chorus use a sing-song manner that gives clarity and weight to each word. The chorus, which comprises actors Sanjeev Sharma, Yogendra Singh, Ramesh Yadav and Swapnil Rane use choreographed groupings to convey the conflicts. Their movements are not much a part of a dance but are more akin to yogic postures that are constantly in flux. The music is actually quite minimal and yet the auditorium reverberates with the dramatic sounds of footsteps, the thumping of bamboo sticks, the human voices and their poignant silences-all throwing eloquent shadows under the coloured lights. The eye-catching light design by Arghya Lahiri is in complete sync with the director’s vision.
MANASKHOR as such is an interesting and a very imaginative play that has a cast of well-trained actors. Dhanendra is as much a good actor as he is a director. He plays the narrator as well as the young boy who is the pivotal link to all three stories. Amol Deshmukh as Mukhiya is also very good. The staging of such plays is indeed a heartening sign for our theatre. Although I wish to conclude on this optimistic note, I must add that commitment to the cause is good but not at the cost of loosing a larger audience! And for that the director has to provide some relief somewhere.
Unfortunately, MANASKHOR, right from its opening lines, which describe the dead animals and the thirsty and hungry human beings, ends with the same scenario. The monotonous graph of the perpetual theatre of cruelty needs some variations and the break in the predictability of events. Needless to say, Dhanendra Kawade’s talent is evident. Sooner or later he is bound to offer an equally passionate theatre experience to his audiences.
*The writer is a senior theatre and television person who has trained under Ebrahim Alkazi at the National School of Drama (NSD). She has written for publications such as ‘The Asian Age’ and is a regular contributor to the Prithvi Theatre Newsletter (PT Notes). She also offers theatre training to students at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and is an important critical voice for the Gujarati Theatre.
