BENGALURU: Have you ever wondered that with the increasing number of apps on our phones and the kind of algorithm that goes into making it, we also might slowly be turning into an algorithm? The play, Algorithm, highlights exactly this and also seeks to give a nuanced understanding of the effect technology has on us and the economy.
Chanakya Vyas, the artistic director of Indian Ensemble, who has written and directed this play, uses a migrant cab driver as the protagonist of the play, and looks at online platforms have affected the working class. Realising how these platforms are making a business out of semi-skilled workers, the director felt that the story of these workers deserve to be told. With the play, the director wishes to raise questions that people feel uncomfortable answering and by doing that he wants to be true to the essence of what a ‘play’ really is.
“I got inspired by this exclusive labour that is commonly taken for granted when I was reading about platform economy,” says Chanakya, adding, “I believe that we live in a transition period of the economy where everything is going digital. Technology has affected people’s lives to a large extent.”
To get an in-depth understanding of the lives of these drivers, Chanakya informally interviewed cab drivers in parking lots, and it was only after seven or eight interviews, that they were able to form the main idea of the play. The stories of survival that drives the cab drivers on a daily basis, is what caught their interest.
As Chanakya puts it, “Instead of sticking to the traditional method of asking the same set of monotonous questions to the drivers, we dug deep into their lives which went way beyond facts and data - there is pain, love and everything that a good story asks for.”
To get a holistic idea on the subject of platform economy, Chanakya also worked with Aditi Suri and Mayura Bhaweja, the dramaturge of the play, before they zeroes in on the final draft by June.
To ensure that the grandeur of the script and the play is maintained, the director chooses to stage the play in Ranga Shankara. “I didn’t want to mellow down or make it minimalistic. Sidha Murthy has seen to it that that the space and design have worked together,” adds the director.
The play will be performed on October 16 at 7.30pm in Ranga Shankara.