The play Waiting for Naseer will premiere on veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah’s birthday on Saturday

It’s on the wishlist of many to watch veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah perform live on stage. But how often might you get a chance to see two ‘dead actors’ debating on who should get to see him first? Spoiler alert but not really!

The philosophical-comedy drama Waiting for Naseer is exactly about this but much more. The two actors – a veteran and a novice – are waiting at the Prithvi Theatre cafe to catch a show of Shah’s new play but the situation gets weirder because only one of them is entitled to a ticket despite being ‘dead’.

The play is written by Mumbai-based playwright Sapan Saran, who works with theatre veteran Sunil Shanbag closely. Srinivas Beesetty, director of the play, got to know from Saran that Shah knows about the story and ‘has mostly read it too’. “I read the script about a year ago, and since then, I’ve been wanting to work on it, because it’s very loosely inspired from the famous play, Waiting for Godot by [Irish playwright] Samuel Beckett,” says Beesetty. Spilling some beans about what to expect from the play, the director says, “There is a scene in the play where one character is an experienced theatre actor and the other one is an aspiring actor, who died young, having a conversation about who is worthy of the ticket. That’s interesting to watch.”

One of the many challenges he faced was slotting the play in the right category. “I don’t know what genre it fits into because there’s obviously a lot of comedy. It’s relatable with acting and theatre, but there’s also a lot of philosophy behind the lines being said. That’s why we termed it as a philosophical comedy. That’s what the author also sees by herself,” he explains.

It does not go much into the depth of existentialism as in Beckett’s work but it explores the wait in an actor’s life. “It is about the wait for that moment an actor goes on stage and emotes. It tries to show that no one can wait the way an actor can wait which could be either for the right role or ahead of a performance,” says Beesetty.

Spilling some beans about what to expect from the play, the director says, “There is a scene in the play where one character is an experienced theatre actor and the other one is an aspiring actor, who died young, having a conversation about who is worthy of the ticket. That’s interesting to watch.”

One of the many challenges he faced was slotting the play in the right category. “I don’t know what genre it fits into because there’s obviously a lot of comedy. It’s relatable with acting and theatre, but there’s also a lot of philosophy behind the lines being said. That’s why we termed it as a philosophical comedy. That’s what the author also sees by herself,” he explains.

A theatre actor himself, Beesetty somewhat relates to the two lead characters. Being a huge fan of Shah, the team also wanted to invite him to the play, which happens to be the veteran actor’s birthday– July 20. “In 2009, when I came to Bengaluru for the first time to do my MBA, I watched his live performance for the first time on stage at Chowdiah Memorial Hall. Even while working on a theatre festival, I worked closely with him,” recalls Beesetty, adding that he hopes one day the veteran watches the show.

INR 400. July 20, 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm. At Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield.