Chuski Natak Ki is an event dedicated to the love of plays. Theatre On Your Own will revisit Mohan Rakesh’s Aadhe Adhure incorporating a dramatic reading and shadow performance on one stage this weekend. The audience is engaged using form as the storytelling in engaging and challenging excerpts. Watch out for an evening where you can listen to classical plays exploring different formats of storytelling, discuss the work of renowned playwrights and figure out the craft used for these classic plays.
“We took Mohan Rakesh’s Aadhe Adhure, primarily as it is a timeless tale, and is still relevant despite being a play from the 1960s. When I visited the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bengaluru, I saw an abstract painting by Rabindranath Tagore called 7 Figures and I was able to instantly connect that form of abstract painting with the players. We also wanted to take upon the challenge of bringing freshness to the play. When one hears any story, one creates vague impressions of certain characters in their minds. And as the story goes on, these characters become more and more complete, and take a stoic form. Throughout this dramatised reading, the audience would understand the struggle of the actors turning into the characters they envisioned. The audience can expect this continuous challenge to draw the story in their minds, instead of being mere silent spectators,” states Sarbajeet Das, who has conceived and directed the play.
Theatre lovers can expect an interesting feature of rhythm and interjection in a live performance that has been explored via movements, shadow, musical compositions and static arrangements going away from the traditional way of presenting a play. Talking of the challenges in incorporating dramatic reading and shadow performance together, Sarbajeet adds, “We follow a process-oriented approach. A team of five people — musicians, a scenographer and creative board members sat together to define a process for this play and the entire team followed suit diligently during the rehearsal process and we were ready with our first draft. With every show, the process is getting stronger and after many shows, we believe incorporating shadows with storytelling is the best decision we have ever made. The concept of shadows helps to understand inner layers of Mohan Rakesh’s message even more effectively.”
— Aadhe Adhure – Chuski Natak Ki will be staged at Atta Galatta on February 18 at 7 pm and The Atelier, Sarjapur Road on February 19 at 7 pm.
