Questions of love, knowledge and memory in a fast-moving society find expression on the Mumbai stage with Mohit Takalkar’s latest adaptation of Caryl Churchill’s iconic work
Mallika Singh Hanspal and Lovleen Misra
It is in the middle of a soundcheck that we catch theatremaker Mohit Takalkar for a conversation. The founder of Aasakta Kalamanch, Takalkar is busy preparing for his next production that goes up on the NCPA stage tomorrow. “It is one of the most exhilarating journeys I have been on,” he reveals. The journey he refers to is the adaptation of Love and Information, a play by one of the United Kingdom’s greatest playwrights, Caryl Churchill.
The mystery of Churchill lies in the fact that the writer has remained a recluse, leaving barely any information for fans of her writing to add context to her work. The director says, “She has not given any stage directions, presets or scenarios about these conversations and where they are happening. So, it is entirely left to the actor and director’s imagination as to how they build it.”
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Kashish Saluja and Mahesh Saini
The conversations are key to the work, the Pune-based Takalkar remarks, adding that while they can seem random, they are open and layered with multiple possibilities. The team, including 11 actors, will perform vignettes of over 50 scenarios and conversations; some of them as short as five seconds, but none longer than five minutes. Hidden between this flurry of information overload are moments that are key to understanding Churchill’s work. “Love is not what we know it to be. It can dazzle you, and surprise you, only if you spend time with it,” Takalkar points out. He compares it with finding dohas and abhangas by the Indian saints, Kabir and Tukaram, or the wisdom in passing conversations at coffee tables or over dinner: “Or the Japanese haikus. The play sets apart the difference between knowledge, wisdom and information.”
Caryl Churchill. Pics Courtesy/BritishCouncil.org
Written in 2012, this growing resonance of the work is what drew the director’s attention. “I had read it way back then, but never felt like picking it up. I was always unsure of whether it was a play for actors to showcase their skills,” he shares. The past few years seem to have shifted this perspective. “We are transformed into consumers of, not just information, everything. There, I think, the truth of this play emerges stronger. It is much more profound. But because it is profound, it need not be heavy, philosophical or inaccessible.”
Takalkar (left) discusses a scene with Hanspal and Misra
To be presented in English, Haryanvi, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati, Churchill’s conversations will find a more resonant Indian context. Takalkar insists that the production is not a complete adaptation; in that they have retained the pure translation of the dialogues and context of the original work. “The axioms of love that she [Churchill] speaks of are universal. In a country like India that is fragmented by sex, class and caste among other things, we hardly need to create context for these conversations. The work is about humanity in the larger sense.” Moreover, since they are conversations, the languages will flow naturally.
Ashish Mehta and Prajesh Kashyap
Taking up such a large context for the first time can be a challenge. Yet, this is a conscious move by the playwright. His last work, Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta Ghanta finished in the top 10 best plays in the country at the recently held META awards. “I need to make sure that what I say is meaningful. I have been very careful in choosing my projects in that sense,” Takalkar explains.
Having shaped, reshaped and worked with the actors over the last three months, the director admits that it is at an exciting apex. “For every scenario, we have had five different alternatives, read them, learned them, threw them out and brought them back again in the last 10 days. That’s why we call it exhilarating. After this, maybe I just need to let the information sit with me and rest. Perhaps that is best,” he laughs.
On Tomorrow and 26, 7.30 pm; April 28, 4 pm and 7.30 pm; April 29, 7.30 pm
At Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
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Entry Rs 500 onwards (non-members); Rs 450 onwards (members)
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