When Every Drop Counts

There is little sound and almost no action on stage Which is why The Water Station,a play to be staged this evening,is counted as a modern classi.

Thrissur-based theatre director Sankar Venkateswaran went back in time,to the Sino-Japan wars,when he began to adapt late Japanese playwright Shogo Ohtas famous play,The Water Station.

Ohta was a nine-year-old Japanese boy,born in China when the Japanese were occupying that country. In the early 20th century,the Chinese forces regained control of their territory,and all Japanese people were asked to leave. Long queues of men,women and children began the march to Tianjin port of China to board a ship back home. In the queue was Ohta, says Venkateswaran,It was a 90-day-long walk,with people clutching on to their cherished belongings. As the days wore on,they began to discard these precious things by the wayside and walk on wearily,using their energy to just keep moving.

A barren landscape,littered with things that once were dear to its owners is one of the most powerful scenes of The Water Station. The play,to be staged today as part of the 14th Bharat Rang Mahotsav,the annual festival of the National School of Drama (NSD),unfolds in near-silence over two-and-a-half hours,with the only constant sound being a leaking tap. Like sound,even movements are minimalised.

The storyline comprises mainly one action a series of people walking through the stage. Some wander alone,others in pairs and a few with families. They move at snails pace a distance of two metres is covered in 10 minutes as every gesture and action is stretched. It seems as if time and sound have both stopped during the play,making the audience hyper-sensitive to every movement.

On reaching the tap,the characters express every range of emotion pain,anger,love,joy,sadness,death and birth. Some meet and embrace while others part and die. It is all about human behavior and progression of life from birth to death, says the director.

The characters have no names theyre called Girl,Man 1,Man 2,Old Woman,Husband and Wife. It could be any of us,names are not important, says the director. Only one character doesnt move on,he lives in a heap of junk,a witness to all that happens near the water tap.

Ohta first presented this play in 1981,and since then,The Water Station has intrigued theatre directors and actors across the world. Venkateswaran took up the play in 2010,and auditioned 120 actors across India for the 15 roles. Tomoko Ando,one of Ohtas collaborators,had conducted a 10-day-long workshop with the cast in Thrissur.

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This avant-garde play is not everyones cup of tea during the five performances in India,many in the audience have walked out midway,others have accosted Venkateswaran about the lack of action. And there has been Girish Karnad,who has called the play,the most beautiful thing I have seen in Bangalore in years.

After the performance tonight,the group heads to Amritsar for another show,also organised by NSD. And Venkateswaran just has one piece of advice for the audience,Come with an uncluttered mind,no preconceived notions and an open heart.

The play is being staged tonight at Abhimanch,NSD,at 8.30 pm. Contact: 23387137

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