Let’s start this from the climax, because that’s where the story begins to linger on with you; the audience will feel literary drowned in the plot. You hear the sound of incessant rains and wonder if it’s going to stop. It does not.
V Balakrishnan’s Relentless moves forward from the myth of Ekashrunga as it occurs in the Mahabharata. The king of Anga, Lomapada,who is Dasharatha’s best friend, driven by desire, committed a sin, and was abandoned by all good people. He acted as he willed, and Parjanya, the god of the skies, stopped the rains from blessing the land of Anga. Twelve years passed in severe drought; the king, upon realising that he was to blame, now sought to rectify the anomaly and make it rain again.
Here’s when a prophesy comes to light — only when Ekashrunga muni, who resides in the forest, inexperienced about the female sex, is brought to the territory of Anga, will the rains bless the land. The king chooses his most experienced courtesan, Kanupriya, to venture into the forest, seduce the muni and whisk him away to the parched lands. Things happen as planned — the courtesan succeeds in bringing Ekashrunga to Anga. And, the skies begin to pour.
“Our play starts at this point… the rains start but do not stop… the land that was thirsting for 12 long years is now drowning! In the late hours of the evening, a condemned prisoner, Amaladitya, comes to meet Kanupriya, who lives in a remote forest, and demands she entertain him for the night. He carries a thousand gold coins as her price,” says Balakrishnan, adding, “The play now navigates between the desire of Ekashrunga, Kanupriya and Amaladitya, amidst the relentless rains.”
Relentless is completely conceptualised by Balakrishnan, with the characters in this play not belonging to the original myth. “As I mentioned, my play starts where the myth culminates in the ithihasa. Mine is a complete work of fiction,” he shares.
By his own admission, Balakrishnan, the founder of Theatre Nisha, loves history and the ancient texts, the hidden tales and life as it was many years ago. “I love to explore the ancient with contemporary acting; albeit last two years, I had a run of plays based well in today’s time like Sordid, God’s Will, Exit Wounds, and Glue.”
The writer-director informs us that the play employs a soundscape to suggest incessant rains. Also, the actors will be seen in costumes which do not really belong to the period the play suggests, but are a representation.
While Balakrishnan plays the prisoner, Niharika KS and Aparna Kumar play the role of Kanupriya (on two different days of the show). “Understanding and working with Kanupriya’s motives and her stimuli has been quite challenging and rewarding at the same time. The script is succinct in the way it creates the story only through interactions between characters, so to understand in its essence, what they’re doing, what they’re saying and/or not saying to one another, what is happening to them... what do they want... all of it required a lot of effort,” says Aparna, while Niharika adds, “The conflicts or obstacles that Kanupriya faces are not something that is prevalent in real life. So I had to introspect to understand all that she was going through and what it could mean for me.”
With Uma Sathyanarayanan taking care of the music, which is an intrinsic part of Relentless; and Meera Sitaraman as the light designer, this play is sure to keep you glued till it reaches the end. “I don’t want to reveal the play’s ending as this is going to be the premiere, but Relentless has quite a definite ending, while being not so definite,” Balakrishnan concludes.
Entry is free.
Registration is mandatory.
The play is in English.
April 26 & 27, 7 pm.
Goethe-Institut Chennai, Nungambakkam.
Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com
X: @rupsjain
