From words to staging and enunciation to enactment, the centrality of the story in an adaptation suggests unexpected creative leaps while adhering to the unblemished forms, genres, periods, styles and cultures. In this light, city-based Preksha Theatre Company (PTC) has teamed up with The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (LCM), to present a Hindi theatrical adaptation of Art featuring music by Neha Natu and Arun Sharma. First premiered in 1994 at Comédie des Champs-Élysées in Paris, French playwright Yasmina Reza’s Art is a comedy which poses questions about creation and companionship. The plot of the play revolves around the ideologies of Serge, Marc, and Yvan. In this adaptation, the cast includes Srikanth KM as Rohan, Sarvesh Brahma as Manjeet, and Anurag Wate as Guddu.
He speaks to us about what the audience may anticipate from their stage version of Art. A play on connections is narrated by three lifelong friends, whose differing viewpoints and personal preferences strain their bond. The piece explores how tensions affect their sense of solidarity. “What the audience can wait to watch is whether they overcome the conflict or lose their friendship to it. That is the central theme of the play,” Anurag tells us over a Zoom conversation.
“The genre of our adaptation is philosophy – an abstract take on friendships. Similar to the original plot, the altercation in this play revolves around a piece of art with the three friends having different opinions on it. The misalignment of ideologies gives rise to contention. What we felt was that when Yasmina wrote this play, she rightly conveyed that in friendships, there will always be friction. It all depends on how strong and deep-rooted your relationship is to overcome the differences. Depth matters when it comes to the survival of any kind of togetherness,” he further adds.
The premise of their Hindi stage adaptation has remained mostly unaltered, although they have introduced the discussion of current events. In the process, some of the concepts from the 1992-written play have been updated to reflect the circumstances of the times we currently live in. “We have, for example, included a reference to COVID-19. We have shown how the pandemic and lockdown conditions impact friendship,” says Anurag, while Sarvesh adds, “These three friends would meet pretty often, but due to COVID and lockdown, they couldn’t meet. That probably affected their psyche, and eventually, they begin to focus on their individual passion, which in turn overpowers their friendship.”
On January 8 at Rangbhoomi Spaces & Events in Gachibowli. Entry fee: ₹200/-.
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