To be [sane] or not: A 70s play talks politics with humour and music; check out at NCPA

A 45-year-old political satire makes a strong statement, but laces it with humour and music

I have no symptoms, I have opinions,” says Alexander Ivanov, played by Neil Bhoopalam, a political prisoner in a mental asylum. In response, his doctor, played by Sohrab Ardeshir, says, “Your opinions are your symptoms, your disease is dissent.” 

Relevant to today’s times, this exchange forms the crux of award-winning British playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard’s play, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. A political satire, first performed in 1977 at the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, the play criticises the Soviet practice of treating political dissidence as a form of mental illness.

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“Dissident stories [from Russia] were a big thing in the 1970s,” shares Bruce Guthrie, director, adding that the idea of someone being held in a mental hospital emerged from there. But what led him to put up a production of the play, after 45 years? “It is always good to look at these plays as signs from history. They ask important questions, which aren’t restricted to a particular part of the world, like—how far would you go for your political beliefs and is it worth giving up your family or life,” he shares, adding that the real reason this play is difficult is that it demands a 40-piece live orchestra. “But here at NCPA, we have access to the Symphony Orchestra of India.”

Bruce Guthrie,  Neil Bhoopalam, Sohrab Ardeshir and Deepika Deshpande Amin

Before one assumes it to be a musical, the cast clarifies that the 40-piece orchestra is  the sixth character in this 60-minute play. Denzil Smith, who plays a schizophrenic prisoner in a mental asylum, imagines a live orchestra and thinks of himself as its conductor. 

“It is a challenge,” admits Smith, adding, “Thankfully, I am somewhat familiar with classical music and have always been a keen observer of the conductor and his gestures.” He adds that the play is also about what is sane and what is not. “If you don’t subscribe to a particular opinion, you could be labelled insane. The orchestra here also makes a political statement—everyone has to toe the line.” 

Smith shares his cell with a political prisoner, played by Bhoopalam. “Alexander Ivanov is an intellectual who was thrown into a mental asylum about two and a half years ago [for his opinions], even though he doesn’t have any mental disorder. He is caught in a system where one has to weigh how much strength it takes to hold on to freethinking. I also have a son, played by Mihaail [Karachiwala, grandson of veteran actor Amjad Khan],” says Bhoopalam.

“Mihaail is being used as a pawn by the system to convince the father to give up his beliefs,” adds Deepika Deshpande Amin, who plays a teacher with no name. “The teacher represents the system. She believes in the ideology [of Soviet Union in the 1970s],” says Amin, adding that she is also aiding indoctrination of propaganda. “She is moulding young minds, including Ivanov’s son, to believe in certain things and behave in certain ways.”

Just like the teacher, the doctor doesn’t have a name either. “He represents doctors of that system, whose job is to follow rules,” says Ardeshir, adding, “If he has been told to give a particular treatment or medicine to someone, he does it without questioning. So, it is again about conforming, following the rules.” While it sounds like a very serious play, which it is, says Ardeshir, it has a generous dose of humour. “There are going to be a lot of laughs emerging from the ironies and idiotic statements that people make.”

WHAT:  Every Good Boy Deserves Favour  
WHERE: NCPA, Jamshed Bhabha Theatre
WHEN: November 4 to 6, 7.30 PM
PRICE: Rs 500 onwards
TO BOOK: ncpamumbai.com

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