Action Replay

In theatre, where new productions are staged with unfailing regularity, some plays have accomplished the unimaginable -- longevity. The u...

In theatre, where new productions are staged with unfailing regularity, some plays have accomplished the unimaginable 8212; longevity. The uncanny ability to run to packed houses, year after year, with the same cast and minimal props. The English play Waiting For Godot has had a two decade run. Tumhari Amrita has been running for the last six years. And Dayashankar Ki Diary for two years.

What gives these plays a long-playing record? The story or the cast? Neither and both, says Benjamin Gilani, director-actor of Waiting For Godot. Based on Samuel Beckett8217;s play, published in 1952, Waiting8230; was first staged in July 1979 at the Prithvi Theatre. Since then it has held 102 shows. quot;The difficulty was in trying to approach an extremely obscure kind of a play and deal with it successfully,quot; says Gilani.

The play is about two vagabond8217;s 8212; Naseeruddin Shah and Gilani 8212; wait for the elusive Mr Godot, who appears to have the solution to all their problems. Their wait turns out to be endlessbut not futile. The plot is universal, yet the interpretation is individual.

The play offers fresh insight every time it is watched. quot;It8217;s a play which reveals itself to actors. It8217;s not just a question of memorising your lines and standing in the correct places,quot; says Gilani. Waiting8230; defeats the so-called mechanics of any other play. It has its own rhythm, which the actors discovered over a period of time. quot;And then it began to grow on us,quot; says he. And on the audience too.

Tumhari Amrita, an adaptation of the American play Love Letters, had a similar run. Initially, director Feroz Khan felt that it wouldn8217;t run beyond the first few shows as it was too experimental for Hindi audiences. quot;But the very first show was somewhat of a catharsis for the audience. Identification with the play was extremely strong,quot; says actor Farooque Shaikh. And its success, feel the actors, lay in having a well-etched script written by Javed Siddiqui.

quot;There have been times during the performance when eitherShabana or me haven8217;t been on par. But I8217;ve discovered that it doesn8217;t really faze people, simply because the script is so powerful,quot; says Shaikh. And contrary to other plays, they never had to memorise the script. Something that writer Javed was very clear about. They were letters and they would be read out thus. quot;There have also been times when we have stumbled over a line or two, which has added to the vulnerability of the characters,quot; says Shaikh.

Actor Ashish Vidyarthi who holds the fort alone in Dayashankar Ki Diary could not agree more. The story of a small-town man who comes to Mumbai to become an actor, Dayashankar.. is not a monologue, but it is an entire play with just one character. Vidyarthi believes that without a strong story-line, written by Nadira Zaheer-Babbar, the audiences would not have accepted the play. Dayashankar.. also draws heavily from all aspects of theatre 8212; singing, dancing, use of mime, props and lights.

Story continues below this ad

Another aspect integral to making a play work.Waiting8230; shuns music and lights but centres the stage around a tree 8212; which even when it is imaginary is always there. Tumhari8230;, on the other hand, relies heavily on lighting. quot;If the light goes, then we are stuck. The whole play after all is about two people writing to each other and reading out the letters,quot; says Shaikh.

But it takes more than the script. That certain ineffable quality is added by the chemistry between actors. quot;Naseer and I knew the play so well that we were never afraid of experimenting,quot; says Gilani. A magic that Vidyarthi, even though he has to perform alone, is well aware of. quot;It is a play that is still growing. As an actor it has been a very soul-searching experience.

Very painful at times and extremely euphoric at others. For me the triumph of the play is building a bridge between a hilarious situation8217; and intense pathos8217; which is the foil for any such situation,quot; says he.Finally though, it is left to the hands of the audience. quot;I just love it when the audiencegives a standing ovation at the end of a performance, that in itself is enough incentive to do more shows,quot; says Vidyarthi. quot;The most interesting element in Tumhari Amrita is that the audience is the third participant. It is that unpredictability which adds to the excitement,quot; says Shaikh.

With inputs from Ruchi Sharma