Drama in the house

Social distancing is the buzz word in COVID times but not so for Theatre Anatomy The fledgling group of 20something fine artists writers and theatre art practitioners stand up close and personal with their audience notwithstanding the pandemic protocols The group discards the box set proscenium in favour of flexible informal spaces Their last performance in a flat in Kalwa was the 46th show of the 45 minutelong Myth of MandigoesIn the last two years the play was presented in patronsrsquo homes terraces chawl corridors gyms cafes community hallsmdashone in a Buddha Vihar in Ghatkoparmdashand only four times in auditoriums The next two shows will be in Pune and Ratnagiri in two friendsrsquo residencesldquoFor as long as we have the roofmdashliterally speakingmdashover our heads our shows will continue We donrsquot need to fear the upcoming monsoon We can perform inany small or bigsized home space irrespective of the number of people watching us even a single patron works and a roomful is welcome toordquo says Shantanu Sayali 22 the playwright who is a student of Lalit Kala Kendra Gurukul University of PuneA mixedbag audience of adults children and elderly attended the recent showing at a flat in KalwaBefore relocating to Pune he schooled in Ratnagiri which explains his choice of the Chitrakathi formmdashnarration aided by paintings indigenous to Konkanmdashfor presenting Myth of Mandigoes Sayali begins the play with the customary ldquogarhanerdquo in Malvani invoking the deities to resolve the issues at hand He complements Malvani with Marathi Hindi English and a bit of Urdu too The language mix suits the informality in the folk framework and makes ample room for popculture referencesmdashHarry Potterrsquos broom PM Modirsquos bullet train Shah RukhKajolrsquos violin act and Bahubalirsquos antics lsquohashtagrsquo Karan Johar trends throughout the filmy portions of the narrativeldquoWe donrsquot mind adapting to or roping in any language which helps in underscoring our central ideamdashfreedom of choice is a birthright and no girlwoman can be forced into an lsquoalliancersquo no human can be killed for saving someone elsersquos honourrdquo adds Sayali who also played the lead sutradhar of the play But lifersquos responsibilities preceded theatre and Sachin Veer also a theatre student from Ratnagiri now a Mumbaikar took on the lead role The show currently rests on Veerrsquos solo act supplemented by vocalist Vinay Kesarkar dholaki player Yash Khade not to forget the guided tour of Mandigoes facilitated by Rohit Mestryrsquos paintings Mestry the alumna of Sir JJ School of Art contributes mightily in the visualisation of the colourful aquatic universe ldquoItrsquos a journey to an unfamiliar land without human presence It is my tool to reflect on human prejudices and illogical behaviour in a setting that suspends disbelief People get the message faster because they enter the magical setting with no guards onrdquo says SayaliThe Myth of Mandigoes shuttles from one princess to the other each story starting with hope and romance but ending with separation and censure Suri falls for guppy fish Saroni woos starfish Surmayee romances ocean waves Sanjoli vibes with a stone and Sobita vies for sun rays None of the five daughters of King Trevol are able to unite with the person of their choice either the caste differs or the gotra and kul doesnrsquot match or the stature does not alignIn short the king an otherwise adarsh raja silences his young girls and even hangs one of them for daring to dream as that suits his strategic needsThe script involves the audience from the beginning The ldquosutradharrdquo asks patrons to adapt the seating as per the space available Usually a recce of the home space is not possible so lastminute decisions are imminentFor instance the drawing room in Kalwa 20 ft by 10 ft of arts curator and founder of Riwaaz Music Foundation Mehul Nayak accommodated over 40 adults and five children The dividing line between the audience and the performers was blurred Despite the strict warning against mobile phone usage two senior citizens excused themselves to the adjacent kitchen for urgent work when the play reached the climax Children were generally quiet but restless because of the dim lighting late entrants stood in the alley throughout the play The deep fried wadas in the kitchen waged an olfactory assault on the audience and performers alike raising hope of a postshow gourmet prep The voluntary donationsmdashcash collected in an upturned hatmdashafter the show were sizeable informed manager Chaitanya DesaiA home in the city like Mumbai is a dynamic place where a bell can ring at any hour the laundry guy could arrive at an unusual time and the society watchman could suddenly drop the water cut notice It is a venue where background noisesound control is not always possible The Myth of Mandigoes negotiates these variables in classic theatrical style In the Kalwa show the lead performer used light banter to counter commotion in the audience He called out those who murmured or played with the props As the lore goes a pet cat once came close to the performers of the play in another show a patriarch started singing with the cast a member of the audience shared his heartbreak in yet another instance ldquoImpromptu repartee and exchanges extend our time commitment But we donrsquot mind it since our show goes onrdquo says lead actor Veer whose popular refrain ldquofilmy hain par hame accha lagta hainrdquo evokes surefire laughter in all shows alikeDifferent theatre groups and individuals have staged play scripts in living rooms and other intimate spaces over the years Some experiments were executed in deserted homes abandoned havelis heritage forts and unused basements In Mumbai theatre has flourished on different terraces Kulsum and Walchand to name a few Satyadev Dubeydirected play Andha Yug opened on the terrace of the building where theatre icon Ibrahim Alkazi lived Mumbairsquos Marathi experimental theatre first flourished in Dadarrsquos Chhabildas School in the rsquo70s and later in a classroom of a municipal school in Mahim where the Awishkar group was allowed 2005 afterhours theatre A 230 sq feet garage in Khar recently served as a performance studio for longIn what can be seen as a milestone in the history of plays performed in lived homes an onehour solo act 1988 presented by renowned writeractor Madhuri Purandare is defining Purandare presented Abd Abd a Marathi rendering of the French monodrama La voix humaine It was a telephone conversation of a dejected woman with her lovermdashon the other invisible end of the landlinemdashwho is soon to marry another woman Purandare staged it in around 28 homes in Pune Solapur and Mumbai each time evoking a heartfelt response Almost 35 years after she mounted Abd Abd Purandare still recalls it as a fulfilling experience ldquoEach home presented itself as a unique set for the play which was such a rewarding moment The only constant on all the sets was the telephone instrument As I played the protagonist the audience surrounded me from three sides which diminished the distance between me and the viewersrdquoTheatre in a home indeed eliminates boundaries between the audience and the performer It doesnrsquot allow the luxury of a mounted stage with a backstage It has no earmarked green rooms or passage wingsBut in the aftermath of the COVID19 crisis in which conventional auditoriums are beyond reach the home offers as an adaptable collapsible and affordable space It is a lowcost option but a highenergy platform that can save the theatre arts from dying The Myth of Mandigoes brings home the untapped potential of our homesSumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikarmiddaycom