Journalism of Courage
What is the motive of a play to express something,or to make the audience have a good time? asks director Yogesh Baldotra. This is a precursory question all dramatists ask in relation to the expectations from their plays. Happy endings and feel-good productions are,perhaps,passe. A new brand of directors across languages are serving reality,which often is not so rosy,on a platter and say the audiences find their offerings quite palatable.
Speaking on his approach to theatre,director Bikash Singh says,Every play has a definite start and end. So,we have started thinking laterally. We have started viewing a play as a process en masse having several endings. As a director,Singh shares the responsibility of a play with the audience,adding,We do not pass any judgment; we do our job and leave the audience to do theirs.
While the plot might seem absurd,it makes absolute sense when explained by Singh. The blind people represent politicians,while the elephant represents problems a nation faces. The sutradhar is symbolic of the common man, he says. At the end of the play,when all five blind people are convinced what they have apprehended is the elephant,the sutradhar walks in and proclaims they havent. Frustrated by failure,the blind lynch the sutradhar.
The audience has matured and appreciates a wide variety of topics handled on stage, says Meera Khurana,who has adapted Mitch Alboms bestselling book Tuesdays with Morrie for theatre. Khurana adds,Earlier,people came in with certain expectations and preconceived notions. These days,people walk into theatre with an open mind. The change,as per Khurana,has occurred in the last one decade. It could also be attributed to the growing interest in theatre over the past decade. Pockets in the country have come alive with theatre. The growth shall continue if the industry gets the right kind of funding, she says.
About her theatrical adaptation of Alboms work,Khurana says,It is essentially a tragic story but is very inspirational. She adds,The stage traces the conversations of a student who meets his professor after decades. The latter is on his death bed,suffering from an incurable disease. But during their meetings every Tuesday,the student documents his teacher Morrie Schwartzs philosophies on life.
The play is essentially centred around a morbid subject but supports itself on a dying mans glorious vision of life. People from all age-groups have attended the productions,and many in the audience have sat and sobbed. Some even came and told me I should make my tickets more expensive, says Khurana.
At the end of it,as Baldotra puts it,It all boils down to what the audience is in the theatre for to have a gala time or enjoy the unfolding of a story? Also,realistic endings are not necessarily tragic and tragic endings may not always be realistic. Whats realistic or tragic depends on each persons perception,therefore it is a relative experience.
