Mortal Combat

This Friday the 13th,you could be face to face with death.

This Friday the 13th,you could be face to face with death. The venue is the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi where the 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav,the national theatre festival,will feature a performance titled Zero One Project. We will explore the response of the performer and the viewer to the states of living and dying. The inevitable processes of life and death,after all,represent the strongest link among human beings, says director Abheesh Sasidharan,a recent NSD graduate.

The performance,intended to make audiences think harder about life and death,is divided into four rounds in one,the audience stands in an accident zone where a laser guards an invisible line. The moment someone from the audience crosses the line,the laser blinks and an overhead cycle stirs into action,creating the impression of a crash moment, says Sasidharan. Other reminders of mortality also abound in this accident zone.

In another round,performers walk around the audience,carrying a small screen with images of objects that are dying the directors way of drawing attention to political and social demise. Conceptually,the most intense appears to be one of the final acts which has the audience interacting with performers as they simulate roles of a dying body through movements like minimalised breathing. Thus,in an intimate area,the play explores the concepts of body and space.

While Sasidharan says that he has set out to go beyond dramatics in this project,interactive performances that have nothing to do with playwrights have been a part of Bharat Rang Mahotsav before. Last year,Delhi-based theatreperson Amitesh Grover had two groups of people one in Delhi,another in London play interactive games through Facebook,Skype,email and SMS,in the play,Social Gaming.

Registration for Zero One Project takes place at NSD from 10 am on January 13. The performance is at Meghdoot 3,at 5 pm. Contact: 23073647

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