Stage set for 26/11 play,wait on for panel’s nod

The final go-ahead is awaited from the Union home ministry which had set up a special committee,headed by two retired judges of the Supreme Court,to scrutinize and censor the play.

The play is being produced by Spandan,an affiliate of the well-known Marxist theatre group,People’s Little Theatre (PLT),and rehearsals have already begun.

“In my play,there is a lot of classified information regarding the attack — I will rather say war against India. In the production and in scripting the play,I have been immensely helped by government agencies,” said Sangram Guha,director of the play.

Guha has earlier staged plays like 16 Millimeter that was based on Parliament attack and Anti-Clock,which was based on attack on the World Trade Centre. Both these plays were staged at various places in India and abroad,including Pakistan. 

The idea of making a play on the Mumbai attack came to Guha on November 28,2008,when the mayhem in Mumbai was still going on,live on television. “Later,I made extensive research and talked to a cross-section of people.” Guha said.

The leitmotif of the play,of course,is a peace offensive against terrorism and those finer instincts in a man,music,literature,arts and culture that finally triumph over terror,says Guha.

“The central character of the play is a young girl of a news channel who was sent to cover the incident. She got so traumatized that she had to be taken abroad for treatment. Of the 23 people acting in the play,22 will represent real characters involved in the attack. Of course,Kasab will be played by one actor,but it will be only for a brief period of time and this character will have no dialogue,” Guha said.