Solo play explores man’s relationship with his childhood idols

A solo play, to be performed by Bengaluru-based Our Theatre Collective, will explore this conundrum as it plays at Sudarshan Rangmanch on Sunday.

The play, Adhura, is derived from the personal stories of its creators— director Vivek Vijayakumaran, who also plays Sanket, and playwright Suranjay Patil.

“The play took birth with Suranjay Patil’s participation at Our Theatre Collective’s ‘Build Your Score’ theatre making workshop, facilitated by Vijayakumaran in May 2019. The workshop culminated with a dramatised reading of a 10-minute text. Over the course of one year, we wrote this play,” says Vijayakumaran.

“We do face challenges because sometimes ideals can also feel rigid, and real life situations can appear more complex than they appear. While the situations and questions may be different for everyone, the challenges remain,” he adds.

As the play developed organically, with the co-author also the performer, it has turned into an intimate theatre piece with minimal setting even as it straddles multiple issues, such as migration and attitudes of young people who are politically vocal online but ambivalent off it.

“We need to tap deeper into our empathy to determine our actions for oneself and society at large,” says Vijayakumaran.

Opened in October 2020, Adhura has travelled to multiple venues across Bangalore, Nagpur, Ajra (Kolhapur), Mathura, Noida, Mandi, Hamirpur, Palampur and Kochi. The play will have its 27th show in Pune.