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Political mess and an ounce of madness
Megha Mishra
New Delhi
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The cast during the rehearsals for the play
Photos: Naval Hans |
TAKING inspiration from the ongoing rage against corruption, Mrinal Dhar’s Saand Na Jaane Angan Tedha — an adaptation of Accidental Death of an Anarchist, a 1960’s play by Dario Fo — is set to hit the stage this Saturday, but with a twist.
“The play is adapted, but with a different start. And it has a positive and revolutionary ending unlike the original’s open-ended one. It has more characters and flavours which are Indian and contemporary,” says Mrinal Dhar, Creative Head & Acting Director at Creative Energies Theatre Association (CETA).
Saand Na Jaane Aangan Tedha, which comes from a famous Hindi proverb, was chosen because bureaucrats and politicians always tend to use it for the common man in a very contradictory sense; as they say yahan aangan tedha hai, tum nahi naach paaoge, says the writer.
“The protagonist, The Maniac, is like a bull in a china shop. He doesn’t care. In his madness, he turns the tables on the corrupt officials. He uses the same techniques that the bureaucrats and politicians apply on a common man but much more intelligently, cleverly and thus outsmarts them,” says Dhar.
From The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen, a most profound tragedy of all times and Man Is A Bitch, an adult comedy to a Hindi untitled play about a hypochondriac and a three-hour-long stand up comedy project in English, Hindi and Punjabi, in between lies a socio-political farce. So, why this one?
“Because, CETA is not categorised into one genre, we work in every genre possible. This time we thought of working on an out-and-out comedy which connects to the people but leaves them with food for thought,” says Dhar.
Using Hindi and English as the language of the play, Mrinal has written and composed a song Dilli ki Billi for the play which is dedicated to journalists of the country. On which he says, “Ban the Indian media for 24 hours and we will be in stone-age. Media has been enlightening us like nothing else. So, I thought of giving the Indian media its due prominence in the play.”
Saand na… also reflects the traits of current social and political system such as trickle-down effect of corruption and growing equality between the two sexes. It also throws light on fake encounters.
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The play reflects the political system with corruption and the growing equality between genders |
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The writer has taken liberty to introduce three more female journalists signifying the growing power of women in the country. And by letting the play start with a monologue by a corrupt constable, the writer puts in the element of frustration which a junior level officer may face because, ‘his seniors are corrupt and he has no choice but to follow them’.
The Maniac reflects the shades of India. “The Maniac represents the passion and the goodness instinct of a society willing to survive in a clean environment. That is what a common man of today is,” he said. “Similarly, the police represents the corrupt system including politicians like A Raja. When you do something wrong in the IT industry, NASCOM bans you. But in Indian politics the same politician is welcomed and is as active as ever. I wonder why do we not follow similar policy in politics? Why can’t other partymen expel him? Instead what we see is a grand welcome.”
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