Of dreams and reality
BHAWANI CHEERATH
|
`Lottery Ticket' depicted the conflicting dreams and ambitions of a couple.
|
Day dreams can be enchanting. They have a realm of their own, but try colouring your lives with those dreams and you will see human nature in the raw. Anton Chekhov's short story `Lottery Ticket' does just that. From the pages of the short story to a re-creation as a play, which was staged by Abhinaya, the transformation attempted a realistic representation.
Taking you into the lives of the made-for-each-other Ivan Dmitritch and Masha, it traverses phases in their lives, their perceptions of their immediate families and, quite often, the lurking shadow of mutual suspicion.
Point of friction
Masha purchases a lottery ticket and keeps it in a book, but forgets to tell Ivan about it. When Ivan chances to see the ticket, that becomes the first point of friction. Ivan and Masha, however, find the thought of winning a hundred million roubles delightful. They have journeys to undertake, live life to the hilt and maybe share it too.
"Share" in the joyous celebration of winning a lottery ticket, that does not figure in their scheme.
The plans are made individually and neither is willing to consider the other's preferences.
What surfaces is a total volte face. Masha and Ivan find themselves trading accusations, the harmony in their idyllic life is disturbed, each see the dark side of the other. Interspersed between the search to locate the winning number and their ideas of using the prize money, we discern the selfishness and self-centredness of the couple who, till then, seemed a perfect match.
Power of money
The possibilities are immense and joyful. But, when each becomes the centre of the reality, the power of money to destroy the finer side of human character revels.
Moving away from the original, the play ends with the couple tearing the ticket into two and life going back on to the normal course. Did the play falter as it progressed?
Binoy, the director of the play explains, "This is a realistic presentation of the adaptation by Jayprakash Kuloor. We have retained the `Russianness' in this production. The earlier one, staged a week ago, employed techniques of stylisation and was in Malayalam."
For the viewer, there was the disappointment of a good story gone awry.
Coming from the same Abhinaya team which made a success of Eugene Ionesco's `The Lesson' last week, `Lottery Ticket' presented under the auspices of the Russian Cultural Centre here, seemed to have lost its zing in the course of multiple retellings in a short space of time.
The actors, Jomon as Ivan, Roja as Masha and Manu as Victor have done their roles with credibility.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
