FLASHBACK

Gokhale created the first draft of the play funded by Indian Foundation for the Arts. “In the mid-60s,Bob Dylan created ripples worldwide with The Times They Are A-Changin’. A few years later,Paris witnessed a students’ uprising in May 1968. And in the early 70s,Sakharam Binder kicked up a storm,” she reflects.

Both Gokhale and Shanbag agree it is important to revisit the times that witnessed such political and social tumult. “Art is borne out of time,” says the director. Arpana’s latest play uses the traditional mediums,like tamasha and lavani as well as animation,news footage and film clippings seamlessly to create the 70s feel. “It isn’t just a play. It takes you all over the place,” says actor Nagesh Bhonsle.

In S*x,M*rality,and Cens*rship,a shahir from the tamasha theatre is commissioned by a Delhi-based cultural czarina to create a work that explores “the phenomenon of censorship with particular emphasis on Sakharam Binder and the 70s”. Helping him in executing this task is Lavanya,a young and spirited lavani dancer.

True to the Arpana style,the play has music and dance. “I am lucky to have Bali Deshmukh on harmonium and Sada Mulik on dholki for our shows ever since we staged Cotton 56,Polyester 84,” says the director. However,giving shape to the production posed many challenges. “After Shantaji wrote the first draft, cracking it for the stage took another three months. The play has really evolved during this period,” he says. The two-and-a-half-hour play opens today at Prithvi Theatre and runs until October 4.