Watch Albert Camus' celebrated text that's being adopted for the stage on the 50th death anniversary of the existentialist

Three years after its revival, the oldest art group of Delhi, Three Arts Club (TAC), will come out with an adaptation of one of the most celebrated texts of 20th century by Albert Camus.

The play begins with the protagonist, Neil, being informed about his mother's death. At the funeral, instead of expressing remorse, he smokes a cigarette and drinks coffee bin front of the body and later, ends up having sex with his girlfriend. His next few days are spent helping his sleazy friend Godbole take revenge on his girlfriend. After beating her up, during a fight with the girl's brother and a friend, Neil accidentally kills the friend. During the trial, the judge announces death sentence by public execution, not because of the accidental murder but for burying his mother with a crime in his heart.

Looking back
An amateur theatre group founded in 1943, TAC is credited with having established the culture of drama in Delhi. After a successful run for 40 years, it winded up its activities due to the untimely death of R.M. Kaul, one of the founders, in 1983. His daughter, Anuradha, a teacher by profession, revived the club in 2008 on the 25th death anniversary of heru00a0 father. "The theatre festival is not an end in itself, but a means of achieving an end; reviving a chapter in the history of theatre. We can't let the legacy of one of the oldest theatre groups in the capital city slip into oblivion," says Anuradha Dar.

The outsider
Originally in French, the book has been translated into English thrice, first by Stuart Gilbert in 1946, then by Joseph Laredo in 1982 and lastly by Matthew Ward in 1988. It has an Italian film adaptation Lo Straniero in 1967 and a Turkish adaptation Yazgi of 2001. Another movie, The Man Who Wasn't Thereu00a0 by Coen Brothers is heavily influenced by the novel. The Melancholy Fantastic, the latest release by AD Calvo, too incorporates the opening and closing text of the book within central elements of its narrative. The Stranger was also used as a discussion point in the 2006 film Scenes of a Sexual Nature.

Schedule
July 2: Dhong, a traditional comedy attempting to loosen the masks people wear to cover the dhong in their hearts.
July 3: Ek Tha Budha, inaugurated in 1961 by Pt JL Nehru in Sapru House, it is the story of a lazy old man who is granted wishes by the fairies, but with twists and turns.
Panch Lakh, a humorous take on how beliefs and unconscious wants make us believe in irrational ideas.
July 4: Aparichit, the first-ever theatrical adaptation of Albert Camus' cult novel--The Stranger is the story of a man condemned to death for refusing to conform to society's conventional norms.u00a0

At: Shri Ram Centre, Safdar Hashmi Marg
Timings: 7.30 pm

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