Defining madness: A play based on a British comedy to be showcased tomorrow

Deepika Pandey and Hrushi Poddar; The play premiered in 1969. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

"I saw a production of What the Butler Saw when I was in New York, and it stayed with me. Orton, after Oscar Wilde, is the funniest playwright I have come across," says co-director Raghav Aggarwal. The actors are graduates from acting coach Saurabh Sachdev's institute. "Through the course, we stage several short plays, and on completion, we come up with a full-fledged production. The idea is to give a platform to young, talented actors," says Sachdev, co-director, who has also trained Bollywood actors like Varun Dhawan and Arjun Kapoor, among others.

The play starts with the psychiatrist interviewing a naïve candidate for his secretary's post. He moves on to a physical examination, when his wife, who has her own interesting history, enters. The plot revolves around how things go south from there, and how the doctor creates a facade of blatant lies to mend matters. While the original script had several references to Winston Churchill, the Indian version refers to 'Mr Gandhi'.

"We give a lot of authority to psychiatrists to define madness. The script takes a dig at the Freudian theory of how everything links back to childhood," shares Aggarwal. "We, as a society are quick to label people, be it calling someone mad, or as is the case today, anti-national. Come to think of it, even Saina Nehwal, who represents India at the international level, was not spared the tag just because she posed with a China-made phone. Through the play, we are also laughing at ourselves."

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