Play(ing) ‘Now’

There’s life between his lines. Breathing,eating,loving,fighting,working,living,surviving…Life,as we live it today,now,in this moment of time. The metaphors carry no baggage of the past,no myths or grandeur of history. Mahesh Dattani,the only English playwright in India to win the Sahitya Akademi Award has definitely taken the proverbial ‘extra mile’ when it comes to writing plays in the English language. Divorced from loud propaganda theatre,Dattani explores sensitivity and layers that are talked about in whispers. With contemporary concerns,his plays are a page from our life,as we live it,here and now,be it ‘Final Solutions’,a play that ‘treats’ communalism,or ‘Tara’,where the “unequal distribution of the body’’ haunts you. With ‘Brief Candle’,his latest play on cancer survivors,where the reality of death and celebration of life share the stage,Dattani definitely brings forth the essential problems plagued by an individual whose voice gets lost in ‘collective theatre’. Like ‘30 Days in September’,a play on child abuse,where Dattani’s script dances on the flame of a candle and burns the reader,he brings forth issues that have long been discussed over drinks in comfortable rooms with a view…The “dramatist”,as he likes to call himself,is here to inaugurate a national seminar on,‘The Author In Search Of An Audience’ organized by Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi,one he’s looking forward to…”the advantages of such interactions are plenty,for here we get to meet various writers and academicians. There’s a need to bridge the gap between practioners and academicians,as they work in isolation and it’s always absorbing to know how one is being theorized,’’ Dattani works closely with theatre actors on the ‘craft’ than the theory of theatre and call himself a workshop facilitator,rather than a teacher. “Varied genres of writing,theory,there’s a lot to look forward to,’’ Dattani’s here on his first visit.

The metaphors for his plays,he agrees are all around,people,places,events,personal experiences…these inspire,“some I gather. Theatre takes you close to the audience,that’s the thrill and there’s always something to speak immediately about,’’ Dattani agrees his experience of being a theatre director first helped him write drama. “Writing can be an isolating experience,but while directing I shared a vision with others,understood other creative minds,met people who represent life,and absorbed directly and indirectly and so I see myself as a dramatist,’’ he smiles.

With many of his plays having been successfully staged in Hindi by Arvind Gaur’s Asmita,did he find something being ‘lost’ in the translations? “Something’s always lost and gained,but if you have put your trust in the creativity of someone,your role is over. For instance,some found the translation of Final Solutions better than the original,for the Hindu-Muslim boys spoke their language and it gave the play a new identity,’’ theatre agrees Mahesh is an intrinsic integration of drama,dance and music…and is magical.