One of the trends most commonly found in modern theatres is to take any popular novels or stories and enact them as a play. This is a good way to ensure a houseful audience because, in our country, people are often hesitant to try something new. Hence, using existing popular plays/novels or stories already give them an established fan base. However, there is a major drawback to such practice. The young talents don’t get encouraged, thus, they shun the innovative ideas and practices in theatre. It is interesting to note that I had a tough time choosing between two plays on that weekend. One was based on Ruskin Bond’s novel The Blue Umbrella and the other on Manto’s stories. I chose the latter because the ticker for the former was sold out before I could make up my mind.
Title: Manto ke Afsane
Writer and Director: Shomik Ray
Produced by: Shapno Ekhon
Genre: Social Play
Running time: 2.15 hours
Theatre: The Stein Auditorium, Indian Habitat Centre
Ticket’s price: Starts at 200/- (Bookmyshow)
Intermission: 15 minutes
Things to do: Art gallery, dining
Play
The play is enacted by weaving the three plays of Manto i.e. Shaheed-e-saaz, Hatak and Khol do at a place. A narrator, who appears well-acquainted with Manto’s life and work provides commentary at the beginning and the end of the corresponding story in a play. On one hand, it’s a delightful experience to watch the story you read and imagined; coming live before your eyes, it becomes a monologic exercise on the other. To be more precise, a singular character is speaking and enacting all the time. The actions are also minimal since the story is designed to be read and not enacted on the stage. In such a play, speech dominates the action which doesn’t appease the audience much, especially those who aren’t regular theatregoers or those who haven’t read the story. Nonetheless, the characters did their best to portray the story on the stage.
Theatre
“The Stein Auditorium” of the Indian Habitat Centre is one of the sophisticated theatres in Delhi, that utilises several modern techniques to enhance audience engagement. It was my second time in this theatre. The audience here is mostly elite and I feel that this gap needs to be bridged. This theatre has several spotlights fixed at different angles to illuminate the section on the stage and I must say that the work on lights and sound was excellent during the entire play. The props were minimal with no considerable scene shifts.
Remark
One should watch the story-play to see how the story is coming live on the stage. Reading and viewing Manto is always a delight, though in unusual way. It unveils the dark truths of society which often make people uncomfortable. I feel that the director should take more liberty and include more characters and dialogues instead of extensive monologues to have an everlasting impact.
Overall, it was a good experience. I do suggest feeling the aura of IHC once.
©Shashank
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