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Small wonders
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An involved performance made Dhamaroo, a play by differently-abled youngsters, immensely enjoyable
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HATS OFF The youngsters came together despite all obstacles to bring out a memorable, winning show
Seated on the floor before the stage, their friends looked eagerly for them and waited in anticipation for their performance.
Some were aurally challenged, some were physically or speech-impaired. But what held them together was high drum-beat energy that played out their stories.
Staged at the Centre for Film and Drama and organised by Masrah and Voices, “Dhamaroo” was performed by Nalak Ghante, an energetic bunch of youth from the Association of People with Disabilities.
Put together over a three-month workshop, “Dhamaroo” told the larger-than-life story of a road-side sweeper whose schedule runs from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. It was an insider’s look into the life of a physically-challenged sweeper and his companion, the broom.
Using a gamut of languages from Kannada and Hindi, to Tamil and English, the youngsters in bright, colourful kurtas took the stage and simply bowled the audience over with their capacity to communicate their feelings and ideas.
It moved from being humorous to hilarious, from sad to miserable by just using simple, demonstrative gestures, body language and vivid expressions. It didn’t take too long to be engulfed by their world.
With minimalist props, the actors used the stage to enact their stories – which they themselves played out without using many devices.
From playing a bullock cart to taking a piece of chalk to swiftly draw a hopscotch spot, the acting was so spontaneous, engaging and captivating that you couldn’t help but be drawn into it almost immediately.
You had to keep up with their energy when they danced to the drum-beats, pacing around on the stage while the sweeper thought aloud.
From a playing goli in all the sights and sounds that a game creates, you didn’t need words to express their actions. The imitations of a typical classroom scene, where the students heartlessly recite sentences repeatedly elicit loud laughs from the audience. It was uproarious to see the absurdity of school-life being played out before you where the teacher at once becomes the reason for lampoon.
From equally amusing, yet endearing scenes of the kitchen in a restaurant that is making tea where mixing and pouring is highlighted, being excluded socially in a game – they all depicted very real-life incidents – and you just embraced their honesty.
What was definitely the highlight of the performance was the Shah Rukh Khan fan scrambling for tickets at a make-believe ticket counter, cursing and grumbling to himself while he makes way in the dark hall to settle down in his seat.
One just basked in the pure adulation of the movies – from his hooting and whistling, awe-struck wonder when the reel starts running, to delivering his memorised, well-practised dialogues.
Arshad Warsi accents, electric sound effects, good use of lighting at the right moments – a lone spotlight on the sweeper to highlight his aloneness, to a bevy of colours prancing around the stage to symbolise the life he dreams of – you can see a lot of thought and feeling has gone into this production.
From a comical bike ride that still doesn’t lose its funny side despite the accident, recollection of a father’s demise to a side-splitting enactment of the Macarena – you just couldn’t get enough of them. The acting was admirable. You commended this group of youngsters, who have come together despite all obstacles, to bring out a memorable, winning show.
Then you realise that the life of a sweeper – no matter how hard it is – he rises above it all to reach out to other people, to make his life interesting and full of people and their stories.
AYESHA MATTHAN
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