22 December,2009 07:14 AM IST | | Aditi Sharma
Sunil Shanbag blends a classic script with an original by a young director, to bring you a play that sees a mother come to terms with her son's homosexuality
It's been a busy year for director Sunil Shanbag. Only a couple of months earlier he premiered the play Sex Morality and Censorship, based on the cult Marathi play Sakharam Binder. This week, he returns to the auditorium with another new play -- Dreams of Taleem. The play, a tribute to his friend, the late Chetan Datar, is based on Datar's 1 Madhavbaug, which is about a mother coming to terms with her son's sexuality.
Dreams of Taleem is essentially a blend of 1 Madhavbaug and young playwright Sachin Kundalkar's original script about a theatre director who is in a relationship with his assistant. The director, Anay (Suvrat Joshi) and assistant Yash (Anand Tiwari) want to work on a new play with the enigmatic, but elusive actress Sita (Divya Jagdale). The actress finds herself in a situation where she discovers that her younger son is gay, so she tries to understand the relationship between Anay and Yash in order to be able to understand and accept her own son.
The monologue from 1 Madhavbaug becomes the foundation from which Dreams of Taleem takes off -- "The young man from
1 Madhavbaug who had just stepped out of the closet has moved on to another level where he is living with his partner now. So, even if we're exploring homosexuality we're moving further," explains Shanbag. At the same time, the play is not just about people in gay relationships but also looks at the family members and friends involved. "We're giving equal dignity to people who are trying to come to terms with their sons, daughters or friends being homosexual. The mother's concerns are absolutely valid. There's nothing wrong with her reaction to the situation. She's trying to figure it out, which isn't easy too" says Shanbag.
The play-within-a-play concept allows Shanbag and Kundalkar to also take a look at contemporary theatre. The play paints a bleak picture of the younger generation in theatre today. Shanbag believes that the play represents what a lot of younger people in theatre are experiencing. "We still pay homage to people who are dead and gone, not recognising people who are living, spirited and energetic. Establishments continue to play safe -- there are five or six names in theatre, which are always spoken about, reverentially. We live in a state of terminal nostalgia because it is risky to recognise the present," says Shanbag as he tries to understand and justify the gloomy representation of younger theatrewallahs.
Look out for...
>> Fresh out of National School of Drama, Suvrat Joshi, who plays the director Anay and who shares an uncanny, "but unintentional", resemblance to Chetan Datar. Shanbag agrees, "He even looks like a younger Chetan."
>> Geetanjali Kulkarni, last seen in Shanbag's Sex, Morality, Censorship as Champa, plays a superb Aai (mother). It's difficult to ignore her even though she remains in the background through most of the play.
On: December 22 to 24 at 9 pm, December 25 at 4 pm and 7.30 pm at Prithvi Theatre, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Vile Parle (W). Tickets priced at Rs 200. Call 26149546.
