The Park, a play unveiling conversations and hidden truths

A park is that third space between home and work where you go to unwind, reconnect with nature, and have a good time with your mates. Whether it is a morning walk, some yoga, or just to sit on a bench after a long day with wind blowing through your hair and gaze fixed on the horizon as you watch the sun go down and hear children laugh as they play.

It’s the one place which has heard deep political conversations, heart-wrenching breakup stories, quarrels between friends, or just a rant. The Park presented by Safarnaama Productions is about one such conversation in a similar set up.

The Park is a play about the power of conversations

A small interaction between three people, and a quarrel about who should sit on the bench, make way for heated political discussions. “It begins on a comic note where a person tries to move the protagonist sitting on a bench as there is shade there, and he wants to sleep. This incident sparks a conversation about territories, annexation, and colonisation in the current geopolitical scenario,” says Kedar Shubhedar, the director of The Park.

Another man in the trio is a teacher who is perceived to be like a “strict dictator”. However, through the course of the play, he is shown to have a soft side. He shares a moment with a girl he loves when she dries her hair in the balcony and droplets of water fall on him. Devoid of love, he romanticises this moment. “This small incident aims to show the audience that people are usually not how others perceive them to be, and that everyone needs love in their lives,” Kedar says.

The play also touches upon psychological trauma and neurodivergence as themes. The protagonist, subject to extreme trauma caused by communal riots, develops a condition of hallucination. In the park, he meets a father of an autistic girl, and explains to him about the girl’s special abilities, and that he must let her choose her own unconventional path without being a sheep in the herd.

Written by Manav Kaul, the play ends on an open-ended note where the audience is left to wonder whether this whole episode was a hallucination, or if it actually occured.

Tickets at `250.

August 9 & 10, 7.30 pm.

At Rangbhoomi Spaces and Lamakaan.

Email: ananyadeval.m@newindianexpress.com

X: @indulgexpress

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