Chain reaction

Tom Alters Teesvi Shatabdi explores the relationship between terror attacks and moral responsibility.

The twin bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during the Second World War not only claimed the lives of many but also caused widespread destruction. Today even after six decades the threat of a nuclear war looms large over us. With frequent terror attacks plaguing various countries across the world,the biggest fear in our minds is that history shouldnt repeat itself.

Theatre actor-director Avneesh Mishras new play Teesvi Shatabdi highlights these aspects. Based on renowned Indian dramatist Badal Sircars play,which was penned in the 60s,it gives us a peek into the lives of the people who were involved in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings as well as those who suffered its after-effects. Set in present-day India,it starts off with Sharat Chaudhary who takes the responsibility of defending his generation and explaining to the next millennium that the people of his time were not as ruthless as history depicts them. He investigates the worst case of mass destruction caused by mankind till date the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Sharat and his childhood friend Sadhan summon the ghosts of the participants in the bombings and question their roles in the event. These include Thomas Freebee,a bombardier aboard the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima; Leonard Cheshire,a British pilot who turned priest after witnessing the bombings; Mrs Claude Etherly,whose husband became insane after engineering the attacks; Dr Arata Ausada,principal of a Japanese school whose students were the victims and Albert Einstein,who developed the theory of relativity that formed the basis of the invention of the atomic bomb.

While veteran actor Tom Alter plays the role of Cheshire and Einstein,Sudhir Pandey essays Dr Ausada and Sanjero Masuda,a Japanese sailor who was affected by the testing of Hydrogen bombs by the US in 1954. Namit Das,Satchik Puranik,Shashi Bhushan Chaturvedi,Shruti Vyas,Rajesh Tripathi,Jaswinder Singh,Geetika Tyagi,Kamal Karamchandani and Monika Mishra comprise the rest of the cast.

Mishra got the idea for this play after he first staged it in 2002 in college. He says,Recent events like the assassination of Osama Bin Laden and the terror attacks in Mumbai made me wonder whether we are heading towards the end of the world. Just as in the play Sharat feels it is the collective responsibility of all humans to safeguard this world and create a better future for the coming centuries,similarly the need of the hour is to make a small beginning and take responsibility for our actions. As artistes,this is our way of creating an awareness through theatre. I was clear from the beginning that I wanted Tom Alter to play Cheshire and Einstein as I needed someone who understood the relevance of the subject and could do justice to their roles.

As Einstein,Alter appears at the end of the play and highlights the moral responsibility of a scientist. He asks the audience if he is responsible for the destruction or should humanity,at large,be blamed for it. The actor says,Teesvi Shatabdi is Sircars little-known but incredibly powerful play. When I read it for the first time,I couldnt sleep for two nights. The basic theme is: rather than pushing important issues under the carpet,we need to confront them. I still remember when India conducted the testing of nuclear weapons at Pokhran I was at Mussourie playing cricket. I had mixed emotions at that time. I didnt know whether I should jump with glee that India proved its power to the world or feel guilty that we are building a monster. But it was fascinating to play Einstein,it was a constant process of discovery.

Apart from this,the production also focusses on little-known facts and proved to be a learning experience for the director as well as actors. For instance,Mishra says that while conducting research on the play,he learnt that the plane that was used for bombings was named as Einola Gay after the pilots mother. Similarly,as Ausada,Pande reads out actual letters written by kids who were victims of the blasts. A compilation of their letters was published as a book titled Children Of Hiroshima. It is the first-of-its-kind book in the world penned by kids but that cant be read by other children due to the highly violent content. Pande says, Its interesting that while the world knew the atom-bomb as a weapon of mass destruction,these children called it as pikadin (that means thunder and lightning). That shows their innocence as well as creativity.

Teesvi Shatabdi premieres on August 27 at NCPA Experimental.