Just like there are two sides to every coin, love is also multifaceted. It’s a feeling that can bind us or break us. An emotion that can make us feel alive and invincible, but also fragile and vulnerable. Unfortunately in this country, lovers often find themselves amidst people who feel entitled to castigate them because they succumb to the enchanting embrace of love. The play, Dark People – Stories from the South by the Chennai Art Theatre shines light on exactly that. It puts people and societies, who would rather choose bloodshed over fostering a climate of comprehension and compassion — for people in love — under the spotlight. It questions even those who didn’t commit the crime but became a part of it by staying mum about it.
Curated by B Charles, this new production that just premiered in Chennai is written and directed by Prithesh Bhandary, founder of the Bengaluru-based theatre group Bhandutvas. Based on real-life stories, the play throws a spotlight on crimes committed against couples who fell in love. “For over
a year and a half now, we have been exploring clowning and while we were discussing
the concept of the show, we thought why not try and make it as dark as possible? We began our research and we found stories of people who chose their honour and status in the society over their loved ones,” Prithesh Bhandary begins.
After having spoken to journalists and listened to stories of survivors and parents of victims across small towns, the theatre troupe stumbled across unfathomable incidents where matters turned violent in no time without giving the victims any time to react or comprehend what was happening to them and why. “Out of everything we had shortlisted, we chose honour killing as a topic because when we looked at statistics, the rate of this crime was much higher in South India in comparison to UP or Bihar,”he reveals.
Sprinkled with a pinch of humour, the play draws curtains to light-hearted scenes revealing two couples Satya and Vedehi (who eloped to Kanchipuram) and Arjun and Harish (a queer couple) who lead a happy life until their family and the society they live in, intervene. “The four characters go through phases: how they met, how they fought for their love and how it landed them in trouble — all incidents narrated are borrowed from real-life events,” the director shares.
The former’s enraged family members lure the pair back with the excuse of a lunch upon learning about Vedehi’s pregnancy before beating them to death while the latter are disregarded and brutally harassed for their sexuality preferences. “The intimacy on stage is real and so is the violence. The idea is to make the audience laugh but at the same time put them in an uncomfortable position so that they question themselves about these incidents. You can expect a bit of abstraction too where we have incorporated clowning besides audience interactions,” Prithesh adds.
When the show premiered in Chennai, it was showered with positive feedback that the cast and crew were not expecting. “Each member of the cast did their bit of research and were asked to. While we were disturbed, it was up to us to put the spotlight on the morbid incidents and put the audience under this light too. And that is our goal, to make the audience a part of the play so that they feel guilty about the violence being depicted,” he concludes.
INR 300. September 15 & 16,3.30 pm & 7.30 pm. At Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar.
Email: srushti@newindianexpress.com