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Journalism of Courage
Theres 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 Dattanis 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 hes looking forward to…the advantages of such interactions are plenty,for here we get to meet various writers and academicians. Theres a need to bridge the gap between practioners and academicians,as they work in isolation and its 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,theres a lot to look forward to, Dattanis 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,thats the thrill and theres 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.
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