The writings of Jean Paul Sartre, Vijay Tendulkar and Andy Weir inspire a new play about the mysteries of existentialism
The team rehearses ahead of the performance
Do you believe in reincarnation? Ask a theist, and you’ll have a long list of theories, each with its own conditions and stipulations. Somewhere between these contrasting beliefs, you’ll find American novelist Andy Weir’s short story The Egg. “In this universe, it’s just you. You reincarnate till you live as every human being who has existed, or will exist,” Weir writes in the story. Today, a young theatre maker from Bihar will aim to simplify Weir’s philosophy with Shunya, a theatre presentation for those who wish to dive deeper into the subject.
“I was in a trivial argument with my friends about a trip that we were planning in 2022. Halfway through it, I realised that if every person I interact with is in fact just me in a different timeline, like Weir states, I am arguing with myself,” director Siddharth Raj recalls. While the group laughed it off as a life-imitates-art moment, Raj believes it sparked the idea for an adaptation that people could resonate with.
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Unlike Weir’s story, where a man finds himself in the company of God, discussing life and death, the adaptation features multiple characters who meet in what looks like the afterlife, to settle scores. “I was struggling to build characters who had interesting backstories to them that could be unveiled as the play progressed,” Raj admits.
The search ultimately led the director to two landmark pieces of existing literature — French philosopher-playwright Jean Paul Sartre’s 1944 existentialist play No Exit, and Marathi theatre pioneer Vijay Tendulkar’s 1967 courtroom drama, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe. Both plays, Raj believes, feature characters that carry the weight of unsettled scores and unfinished conversations.
Jean Paul Sartre; (right) Vijay Tendulkar. Pics Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons
“In Sartre’s play set in the afterlife, we meet Estelle, a guilt-ridden woman who finds herself having to explain killing her child that she had with a rich older man. In Tendulkar’s feminist courtroom drama, on the other hand, one Ms Benare stands her ground after it is revealed that she’s carrying a child conceived out of an illicit affair. The men, in both stories, are left out of the narrative. In our play, we imagine how things would unfold if the men joined the conversation,” he elaborates. In the play’s debut performance today, these characters will be played by Raj’s contemporaries from Mumbai and Delhi.
Siddharth Raj
The overarching theme, Raj assures us, remains untouched. Weir’s story concludes with the realisation that the universe is an egg, and only when you have lived every individual’s life, will the egg hatch, leading to your true birth. “The essence of the play remains the same. Through the conversations, the characters come to a mutual understanding, realising that they’re up in arms with themselves,” Raj reveals.
Andy Weir; (right) Actors Rohit Anand and Ayushi Gupta at an outdoor run-through of the play
Before the director signs off to make his way to a final rehearsal, we take a moment to address the elephant in the room. As intricate and equally intriguing the concept sounds, will the audience truly be able to wrap their mind around it? Raj admits the concern. “I know I am presenting something that might be hard to follow for many. I urge people to focus on the emotion instead of dissecting the story and trying to make sense of it. When you put yourself in the characters’ shoes and feel their emotions with them, everything starts making sense,” he concludes.
ON July 2; 9.15 pm
AT Veda Factory, Aram Nagar Part 2, Versova, Andheri West.
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