One of the end-of-year theatre traditions is an SMS from Akarsh Khurana requesting the top 5 plays people have seen for the year for his article in e-zine The Script (www.qtpthescript.blogspot.com). Everyone springs alive online, offline, or over chai, trying to recall what plays we have enjoyed over the last year. Invariably our “first draft” lists are dominated by what we have seen recently.

The last few weeks in Mumbai have seen an interesting mix of stylised plays. It has been a while since so many stylistic plays have been on display in the English and Hindi theatre. It makes for very exciting theatre, and each night leads to a different aesthetic response.
A lot has been written about the latest English version of Hayavadana. Staged in the round, the play was always going to be interesting viewing, especially with Pushan Kriplani & Arghya Lahiri sharing the directorial duties. The production is very watchable, and is filled with wonderful elements. Actors changing costumes in front of the audience, audience interaction, etc. while the dynamic duo is taking risks in the staging, so are the producers by scheduling performances on two days of the New Year’s Eve-weekend. So if you want to get intoxicated on theatre, check it out at the Madam Cama Auditorium in Kala Ghoda tonight and tomorrow.
Thespo too threw up its share of stylised staging, particularly the incredibly sparse Cock. Manish Gandhi demonstrated great bravery in stripping down the entire play of props and set. Often there are references to bottles of wine, food, and even chairs and tables; yet none were present and none were mimed either. Other than a circle on the floor to demarcate the acting area, the space was not defined. Movement didn’t adhere to rules of geography or space, but more on the emotionality at play. The byproduct was that we listened harder to the words, since that is all we had to go on.
Perhaps the most “out there” of the productions was Water Station. The plot was simple — 17 characters in turn come to a water station to drink water before continuing their journey. No words are spoken. And the action all takes place in “slow motion”. But what is amazing is the control shown by the actors as they make their way to away from the dripping faucet. The first 20 minutes are riveting, but soon after the predictability of the action makes the remaining two hours slightly tedious.
I was still mulling over Akarsh’s SMS, when I took my seat at the opening show of Laal Pencil. I had only four names (Kyoun Kyoun Ladki, The Interview, Aaj Rang Hai, Stories in a Song) and was praying that this play would give me a fifth. Fortunately, Manav Kaul’s latest play did not disappoint.
A few years ago Manav and I had chatted about the new phenomenon of a theatre “creator” as opposed to a writer or director. A “creator” is someone who is, for all practical purposes, a writer-director staging his/her own work. Normally writer-directors are bogged down by trying to give vent to the words they have written. The “direction” aspect is only to provide a frame for the written text.
A “creator”, by contrast, is someone who understands the limitation of words and is happy to edit or delete sections of his/her own text in order to find a new visual grammar for the piece. Manav’s early work has always been a vehicle for his beautiful stories and carefully crafted words. I am a big fan of Shakkar Ke Paanch Daane and Ilham. Not so much of Red Sparrow, though. So it was fascinating to see him come of age as a “creator” in Laal Pencil. The stagecraft employed is immaculate and although highly-stylised yet very accessible and therefore successful. The cast don’t seem to be at odds with the material (as is often the case with stylised work). The design seemed to emanate from them.
It was a fitting end to my theatre watching of 2011. And I happily added Laal Pencil to my list for Akarsh, and hit “Send”.