Together, apart

Opening night is in almost a month, so two weeks ago, we felt it was time to get together and share our work accomplished so far. Going Solo 8212; an evening of collaboration. Sounded interesting. But a reading of all the plays would let us know, if in fact, it sounds interesting.

There8217;s something so beautiful about shared vulnerability within a group. In our case, we all were familiar with our own pieces but were still not quite at performance level. Everyone felt responsible to live up to the standard that they privately held for the group as a whole.

Rahul, Vikram and I, as directors, all felt confident about the fact that we had chosen verywell crafted plays to direct. However, our concerns were more about the evening as a whole 8212; will the plays compliment each other well? In that sense a collaborative work is always tricky. You need to be able to contribute individually to a larger, common whole. We also had to figure out what the best order would be for the plays to be presented. So there we sat, as directors, silently sharing our worries and excitement across the room.

The actresses trickled in and so did a few close friends who we had called in for advice. There was a good half hour of catching up with each other and explaining who would be doubling up for whom. We were missing three actresses. One was unwell, one had been drawn away by those notorious TV shoots and one was not yet cast. The remaining present were: Shernaz, Radhika, Kitu, Benaaf and me.

It was time to get focussed. The directors each spoke a little about the project 8212; what it meant to them and the importance of breaking away from weekend theatre. The actors smilesshifted to more serious looks. Every now and then, they glanced at their scripts and cleared their throats.

Then we began the reading. We started with Mothers Have Nine Lives 8212; a play about motherhood. It deals with eight different mothers 8212; a glimpse into the not-so-romantic moments of their lives. This was followed by Rupert8217;s Birthday 8212; a story about a young girl who helped in the delivery of a calf on her farm and the lasting effect it has on her. The third play read was Talking With 8212; the stories of six single women who are dealing with various issues in their lives.

The reading flew past with an adequate amount of adrenaline. When the last lines were spoken, we all looked at each other and broke into smiles. Then came the next step where everyone was voicing their opinions 8212; what they liked, what was funny, what was tragic etc. As far as our big concern about the combination of the plays was concerned 8212; it worked! They were so different in format, mood and pace but werestill bound together by the spirit of womanhood. It clearly felt like a celebration of women. And for an all female cast, what more could one ask for. Vikram, Rahul and I also felt relieved to have a cast of talented, intelligent actresses to carry the pieces forward and to represent these diverse women.

The session came to an end and everyone said their good-byes and moved on into their lazy Sunday afternoons. Rahul, Vikram and I sat in silence for a little bit. Then, once the relief wore off, worry started creeping up. We had better make this work. We had loads of work ahead of us. We immediately started preparing for the next four weeks. Lists were drawn up, phone calls had to be made, rehearsal schedules had to be created, characters had to be developed, set and light designs had to be executed 8212; reality once again took over after the reading.

Here we were, working on a project that we had spent months talking about. An evening that celebrated women. A wonderful cast. A break away from the presentsystem of weekend theatre. Doing 25 shows in one month. Coming together to create a sense of solidarity in the theatre world 8212; doing theatre the way we8217;ve always wanted to do theatre.

We laughed. Closed our files. Held onto our excitement and said the usual: quot;It8217;s been a good day. I8217;ll call you both later.quot;