Drama delves into world of HIV patients

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A scene from the play Rang, directed by Pradeep Singh, which was staged at the Shri Ram Centre on Wednesday.

Rang, a play on AIDS, was staged at the Shri Ram Centre by the group Dhruv Arts and Cultural Society on Wednesday. The show, described by the presenters as a “social comedy” was really not a comedy but a social drama which was rather well written by Kuldip Singh.

The script appeared pacily set in short scenes which were enacted in a seamless flow by the players.
The story of a young girl, who is placed in a room where she is forced to share a bathroom with two strange men, one of whom is a skirt chaser, and to avoid his persistent advances she declares herself as HIV positive, was well enacted by the artistes, with Surabhi Pandey as Summi playing an outstanding protagonist. The action begins on a comic note with Ravi (Vinay Pandey), the woman chaser, coming into the room after being slapped by a girl. The other occupant of the room, Karan, played by the director of the play Pradeep Singh, is trying to practise his music which is rather ungainly.
The threat of the impending arrival of colonel Summi’s uncle and the host Ali bhai’s (Harish Chhabra) benefactor at some crucial point in his life, sends the host and his wife Nazma (Anju Chhabra) into a tizzy. Whilst the husband is all set to get the men out of the flat, the wife is not willing to give up the rent money.
In the meanwhile, we come across Summi with her teacher (Monika Manchanda) and discover that she has been working with AIDS patients for her research programme. She is thrown out of class when the principal is made aware of her condition by Ravi. In a funny and ironic sequence, Summi tries to sidle up to Ravi and he falls off the bed in trying to avoid physical contact with her.
Karan is left alone when Ravi decides to leave in the face of Karan’s growing sympathy with Summi. There is a general feeling of distaste at the fact that Summi has AIDS with the host Ali bhai too registering his protest which is ignored by his wife who declares he is a woman hater as he aborted the girl child in her womb when told it might not be a perfect baby .
In the last scene where Karani is trying to pack up and leave, Summi comes in and declares that she does not have AIDS but only wanted to study the psychology of an AIDS patient as her father who died of the disease suffered terrible ostracisation with his family also not being sympathetic towards him. It was for this scientific reason she was intimate with the HIV positive women and declared herself to have been infected by the deadly virus.
However, this is not the end of the story. It turns out that Karan himself is an AIDS sufferer and left his house and hometown to seek the anonymity of the city and make a new life for himself. The play ends with the two characters in a freeze.
There was not a moment of ennui during the 90-minute enactment. The performances were all in tune with the theme and purpose of the play which conveyed its message without being ham-handed. This show was not publicised enough and there were just a handful of spectators. It deserves a bigger audience.