When Simon McBurney wrote a play on Indian math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan, he got the theatre fraternity across the world excited about the dreaded subject. As the play comes to India, Prithvi Theatre gears up to celebrate math for an entire month

Sanjna Kapoor, director of Prithvi Theatre, has been on a chase for the last two years. Her mission: to get UK-based theatre company Complicite's A Disappearing Number to cross the seas. In the meanwhile, Prithvi has built a relationship with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and even the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

McBurney's play, based on mathematician GH Hardy, seeks to comprehend the ideas mooted by math wizard Srinivasa Ramanujan in the chilly English surroundings of Cambridge during World War I.u00a0

A Disappearing Number has been instrumental in changing a theatre space in the city. It got Kapoor so interested in the subject, she decided to open up Prithvi's hallowed confines to specialists from science.

Through the events planned for Maths Month With Prithvi, Kapoor promises to change the way you view the subject forever.

Sanjna Kapoor opens up the hallowed confines of Prithvi Theatre to the
magic of math. Pic/Nimesh Dave

Science and art don't exactly marry well. What made Prithvi connect with math?
It happened when I saw A Disappearing Number, and read Ramanujan's biography and GH Hardy's book. Hardy talks of how mathematics is a creative process, and why pure math is not a utilitarian science. It's not out there to create a better digital process for computers or to drum up the string theory. These are just by-products.

Ramanujan's theorems are used in string theory but that's not what he had aimed to do. He just wanted to achieve a thought that was completely new and original. I see a connect between that thought and the role of the arts.

The arts are not utilitarian either: they don't help earn you brownie points or fatten your bank balance. They are there for sheer sensorial delight.

But math is an intimidating subject for most people, especially those connected to the arts.
Sure, it is. We sort of dumb down when it comes to mathematics. Perhaps it's because of the stress associated with the subject, and because it's taught so horrendously in schools. We undervalue the subject and our capability to engage with it. But when math becomes palpable, it becomes interesting.

For instance, in the beginning of the play, a professor comes on stage and starts writing equations on a whiteboard. The audience responds with nervous murmurs: "Are we going to get this play?"

But as she goes on, you sense that you are getting what she is explaining, and then you think, "Oh God, I'm not such an idiot after all!"

Why create an entire month of activities around the subject?
We strive to give audiences the most professional experience we can, but with a warmth that makes them feel part of a theatre family that cares. So, we try and transform spaces where special events are organised. It's then that the experience becomes part of audience memory and stays with them for a long, long time.

How much does it have to do with Prithvi's association with MIT and TIFR?
MIT has made the choice to incorporate arts into its fold. Their drama department is like any professional drama department, except it doesn't churn out dramatists. If we are to create a great physicist or mathematician out of a young mind, that mind needs a hardcore experience of the arts. That's what they believe.

Prithvi has become a regular venue for the Chai and Why sessions conducted by TIFR's outreach team. If they had spoken about an association eight years ago, I would've said, "No, Prithvi is a space exclusively for theatre." But the more we are building partnership programmes with PEN, Vikalp and Thespo, we are developing a hub for specialists from various fields. Chai and Why, an interactive science-based programme has received a phenomenal response. I was anxious about the format, but it's amazing how the audience asks questions, and how the scientists manage to engage them.u00a0

Maths Month includes film screenings, performances and readings. But how does a musical performance fit in?
Oh, I'm very excited about that. Rhythm has a tremendous connect with Math. It's all numerical. I have no idea what Aneesh (Pradhan; tabla player) and Shubha (Mudgal; vocalist) are going to do, but what is great is that people are getting excited about the idea.

Even Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Shernaz Patel and Rajit Kapur have agreed to participate, we hear?
Yes. In fact, when we first proposed the idea to Naseer, he fell silent. I thought, "Oh God, it's not going to work." But then he got so keyed up, he called us to say there is so much more that can be done. That's fantastic!

Dhamaal will showcase Math-inspired performances. But we are always anxious about filling the house. We have five shows to fill, and that's a terrifying prospect.

BEST PICKS

The story of 1 (Film screening)
July 11, 11 am
The story of the number one is the story of Western civilisation.

The truth about mathematics: Love it or hate it
July 12, 8 pm
Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel and others will read from GH Hardy's A Mathematician's Apology, Stephen Leacock's A, B & C: The Human Element, Premchand's Bade Bhaisaab, and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia

The Maths Mela
July 19 to August 5
It travels to schools and colleges across Mumbai. An unconventional engagement with mathematics, the mela includes a math lab, film screenings, live performances, hands-on fun, and more. Open to all ufffd the schedule of dates and venues will be up by mid-July.

Musicu00a0and Math
August 2, 8 pm
Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan bring you a delightful evening of music and mathematics. Tickets go on sale on July 28.

Play
Complicite'su00a0A Dissappearing Numberu00a0at Jamshed Bhabha Auditorium, NCPA, Nariman Point.
August 9, 10 and 11
Tickets go on sale on July 18. All events at Prithvi, Juhu.
Call: 26149546

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