Mind Games

AT first glance, it all seems quite disorganised. Theatre group Avishkar8217;s office8212;in a suburban Mumbai municipal school8212;crams...

AT first glance, it all seems quite disorganised. Theatre group Avishkar8217;s office8212;in a suburban Mumbai municipal school8212;crams in inflatable balloons and banjos, blackboard play schedules and exotic furniture-props. But there8217;s method to the maze. As there is in the group8217;s latest complex effort: Iraq.

Director Chetan Datar8217;s vision of veteran playwright CP Deshpande8217;s script uses international politics to examine an individual8217;s internal conflict. It8217;s all about economics in this 8216;political fantasy8217; that sees the Iraqi, American, and Indian heads-of-state Sudam, President and Pant, respectively debate issues of peace, democracy and of becoming Big Brother.

8220;I8217;m fascinated how Deshpande8217;s word-driven plays unfold through dialectics. I almost felt it was my duty to take on such a challenging project,8221; says Datar, about the satire. The play, which deals with arth or economics, completes Deshpande8217;s quartet on the Purusharthas.

The animated discussion unfolds between archetypal characters like the sutradhars with conflicting visions, long-winded bureaucrats, and a middle-class family with a gangster son. So while the son turns don in order to meet material needs, the politicians plan out poor-oriented capitalism and minority-friendly Hindutva. Each character seeks superpower status in his own way.

Sipping on katoris of warm milky ukala in the Avishkar auditorium, Datar becomes contemplative. 8216;8216;Iraq addresses both political ideologies and ideas of modernity and morality. But, towards the end, all chaos arises only from the mind,8221; spells out the director, who restructured the script and encouraged discussions with his 15-member cast during the two-month rehearsals.

With Jungle Mein Mangal8212;his previous venture, a gender-bending take on A MidSummer Night8217;s Dream, using Tamasha8212;it was all about having fun. 8216;This was a conscious departure,8217;8217; he says about the sparse sets . A globe, which the leaders toss around, is the only prop. The backdrop though has some welcome colour: An American flag spreading its stars across its Iraqi and Indian counterparts.

But how do audiences react to such intense fare? 8216;8216;While presenting an experimental play, you8217;re expecting an enlightened audience. But it8217;s my job to grip them, to show parallels of how these issues are relevant here,8217;8217; says Datar, who says it8217;s futile to cry over eroded ideologies or blame TV influences. 8220;As long as original Marathi scripts are written8212;and directors take them on8212;there will be audiences to appreciate them.8221;

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Catch Iraq at Avishkar, Mahim, Mumbai, March 7 to 9; at Sudarshan Mangal Karyalay, Shaniwar Pet, Pune on the 13th