Staging Terror

“The play is about humanity,rising above the subject of terrorism and embracing the bonds of love and friendship,not between similar people,but between seemingly incompatible people,” explains the director,whose last production was Salaam India two years ago.

In Ji Sa’bji,the curtains will open to the aggressive electronic music by Rahul Ram and Amit Kilam from the band Indian Ocean,setting the tone for a story,whose backdrop is a city where a bomb blast has just occured. “It could be any city. After all,virtually every city in this country has been affected by a bomb blast,” says the director.

In the play,a policeman is convinced that a dying old man holds the key to the terror plot. “But he has no proof. So he forcibly enlists a young boy,who shares a special bond with the old man,to elicit the truth from the latter. But what is the young boy supposed to find,when the cop himself has no clue what it is that the old man knows?” says Dubey,who plays only a minor role in the play. As the story unfolds,the boy and the old man develop a fond relationship.

Dubey has packed the 1.35 hour play with symbolic images — like one occasion when the young boy and the suspected terrorist,are crouched side by side. The young boy has a little book of prayers before him,and the terrorist,his gun; and together,they offer namaz to the sound of the azaan. “When a dying old man and a teenage boy of different sensibilities and beliefs come to share a special bond,it is the triumph of humanism,is it not?” asks the director.

The play will be staged today and tomorrow at the Sri Ram Centre. Contact: 23714730