Promise of Peace

Leningrad is under siege in the winter of 1942 as a bitter battle rages between the Russian army and the Nazi invaders. Thousands have died of starvation and a familiar world has collapsed all around,but the guns keep firing outside. In this landscape,three teenagers — Leonidik,Marat and Lika — strangers to one another are thrown together and have to find a way to survive. The possibilities of this 1960s classic The Promise by Alexei Arbuzov have brought First City Theatre Foundation’s Bharat Kapur out of a 12-year sabbatical as director. Promise will be staged at the Stein Auditorium,India Habitat Centre.

“It was time to do a big production,” says Kapur,adding that the final push to direct a play was the chance to work with actors like Neel Chaudhuri,Momo Ghosh and Kriti Pant. Workshops began in December. “Neel,a writer himself,was cast as the poet Leonidik,while Kriti plays Lika,the central female character who becomes a catalyst for the two boys to explore their selves. Momo enacts the part of Marat,the boy who dreams of being a bridge-builder,” says Kapur. The action develops over 16 years as a love triangle develops against the backdrop of post-World War II destruction and reconstruction of Europe. Kapur adds he has maintained a high level of intensity all through — from the sets to the musical interludes.

The Promise will be staged at the Stein Auditorium,India Habitat Centre,at 7.30 pm on January 9 and 10.

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