First Price

The task of adapting this play,however,was taken up by Vikram Phukan. He changed the setting of the 1968-play from an American family to that of a Bandra-based Catholic one. The shrewd Russian-Jewish antique dealer in the play too,was converted into a furniture-wallah from Mumbai’s Dongri area. The experimental play with its four-member cast and minimal set opens today at St Andrew’s College,Bandra. The second show will be at Veer Savarkar Hall in Dadar on July 1.

That The Price was not considered as Miller’s best work compared to Death of a Salesman or The Crucible does not seem to bother either Barat or Phukan. However,they have edited the play,reducing the running time to nearly 120 minutes. The first act of the play,considered to be slow,is now much tighter. “In our version,we have made the first act a lot less self-explanatory,” says Phukan. Since the play is text-heavy,Barat fancies himself more as a facilitator between the playwright and the actors. “I allowed the actors to absorb the text first and then express themselves,” he says.

After its first production,Behulas Theatre is likely to adapt political activist Jaya Mitra’s memoir Hannaman written in Bengali. “The book is more about the women she meets in the jail,” says Barat. According to him,the group,committed to experimental theatre in Mumbai,will dabble in both original writing as well as adaptations of classics.