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Of terrorists and martyrs
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Probes a soldier's thoughts on war
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COMPELLING STORY From "Thicker Than Blood"
What kind of a hero do you want? Some village boy who's spent eight weeks in the jungle, eating bugs and drinking his own piss...? Heroes have to be people we can look up to, aspire to be like. They have to be better than us. I've plans for you right from the start, Suresh.
It all began in 2001 at a workshop conducted by the Royal Court Theatre in Bangalore. As part of the proceedings, participant V. Balakrishnan analysed Delon Weerasinghe's play-under-process in the playwright's presence. He put in a lot of groundwork to understand its background of Sri Lankan politics, and the evolution of a crisis in the life of the protagonist.
"Thicker than Blood" has a simple storyline. Wounded on the battlefield, Suresh is honourably discharged from the army and lives on a meagre pension.
Brother Harsha who fights his own demons of jealousy and troubled marriage, supports Suresh, but urges him to find some useful occupation instead of whiling his time away. Wily politician uncle Kithsiri Bapa wants to manipulate Suresh into making rousing speeches for his party and stand for elections. His fame as a good man and brave soldier will be an asset to his side. Brother Harsha is compelled to step down to allow Suresh to be in the limelight.
The complexities are unravelled as a reluctant Suresh is drawn into the game even though he is unsure of his own beliefs and mistrustful of politics. His ambiguous relationship with Harsha's wife is contrasted with his easy bonding with their son, to whom he is the role model to emulate. More over, he is haunted by his chilling encounter with an old man who has taken upon himself the task of finding corpses on the battlefield and giving them a decent burial. He is killed as he saves Suresh's life. Safe in a civilian world, Suresh begins to wonder: who is a terrorist? Who is a martyr?
Trained at the National School of Drama, Balakrishnan has had the privilege of working with thespians and teachers such as Naseeruddin Shah, Anuradha Kapoor, Habib Tanvir, B. V. Karanth and Satyadev Dubey. He has acted in over 50 plays in Hindi, Tamil and English.
As directed by Balakrishnan, Theatre Nisha's "Thicker than Blood" brings together actors from several Chennai groups.
GOWRI RAMNARAYAN
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