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Set in an imagined land, "Samara's Song" works on a literal and metaphoric level.

The main narrative revolves around the presidential family, the bureaucracy and the citizens. The equations among the three are highlighted during the unrest of the elections. While "Samara's Song" studies the institution of democracy, it also examines the recording of history.

Three characters, one blind, one mute and one deaf, play the role of an individualised chorus.

Like a chorus, they comment on the action. But they are also fleshed out as characters.

Their disabilities hint that history is not recorded completely. Accounts of history overlook the subaltern while chronicling the rulers.

For Sengupta, political comment is best delivered through theatre. "People watch and respond in front of you." She finds this immediacy "fascinating and frightening".

Having written numerous books for children, Sengupta is a novelist as well. But she believes that a different skillset is required to write a play. "It needs to be put on stage. That brings a restriction with it," she continues, "But there are also the additional inputs of visual elements. It's not like writing a novel."

A play script is hinged on dialogue and fleshed out through technical detailing. Sengupta provides the technical requirements for "Samara's Song", including the set and light design.

While she has not trained formally, being an actor and hailing from a theatre oriented family has familiarised her with the craft.

She feels that this play has musical possibilities. Since it has no regional rooting, she feels "perhaps modern fusion or just percussion" would best suit it.

But, what is her relationship with her play once she has surrendered it to the director? She pensively says, "It's often forgotten that Krishna had two mothers. Yashoda and Devaki. Devaki was the natural mother. But it was Yashoda, the foster mother, with whom he did all the antics. No one remembers Devaki. A playwright is Devaki."

But isn't a script only a text, till a director blows life into it? "Yes.a playwright has to give up the play for adoption. It's difficult. But it has to be done. You can't dictate to the director. But sometimes the director sees a whole new angle and that's fantastic."

NANDINI NAIR

Before Narayan knew it, he was directing Girish Karnad’s “The Fire and the Rain” for St. Xavier’s annual theatre festival — Ithaka in 2003. he also forged a dramatic partnership with close friend Warren D’Sylva. D’Sylva and Narayan formed the Shoestring Theatre, a company they launched with the play “Ends and Beginnings” based on Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame”. The play picked up six awards, including Best Play and Best Director (Narayan) at the national-level theatre fest, Thespo 8.

Narayan is angst-ridden enough about existentialism. The result was the writing of the abstract drama, “Mime X: Too Close to the Pixels”. In his words, “The idea at the time was to play the experience vs the meta-experience. The consciousness vs the positional. But, my ideas changed and the play became about how the two characters/actors/people played off each other.” Narayan is working on “A Dog’s Life”, an allegory about the mass culling of dogs in China. He now prepares for a lifetime in theatre. He is on his way to Royal Holloway, at the University of London for an MA in theatre direction.

GAURI VIJ

Writer-director-actor Abhishek Majumdar only had to live a year on the high street parallel to Harlesden in London, to write a play about a first and second generation Pakistani immigrant family. The 27-year-old Charles Wallace and LISPA scholar (200 6-07) has just written his fifth play “Harlesden High Street”.

Majumdar realised the immigrant community fostered bonds that were beyond cultural or political dynamics. “I found that the Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians were far more liberated outside than they are inside their own country. ” For someone who has lived in eight cities, Majumdar says, “What touches me most about any immigrant community is definitely their optimism and willingness to survive.” He also finds that they will do anything to do so — even sell bananas.

Majumdar found the street-performing culture of busking in London a striking influence as a student of the performing arts. For someone who has grown up in Delhi and calls it “the city of immigrants”, Majumdar feels: “‘Harlesden High Street’ was always a play in my head when I was living in London.”

Interestingly, his own father hails from Bangladesh and fled to Kolkata and then Delhi during the 1971 war. Immigrant stories were a part of his growing-up years. He adds, “Immigrants are people with real issues and that’s what fascinates and saddens me.”

Majumdar admires Naguib Mahfouz and Saadat Hasan Manto. The notion of a home for the immigrant is blurred, according to Majumdar. Even for those who are moving away from their homes due to their jobs.

He concludes: “For them, there is no place called home.” He is currently conducting a children’s workshop at the Ranga Shankara. “There is so much to learn from children. I am learning to unlearn everything!”

AYESHA MATTHAN

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