HYDERABAD: “Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad” — many philosophers have pondered over the notions of madness and what causes it. 19th-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche being one of the few grappling with some harsh realities of modern life, especially being the one to break the moulds of classical philosophy. Fast forward to the 21st century and the question still remains relevant, “who really is insane?”
Playing around the same ideas, while breaking the moulds of a set format, the actors of the Sutradhar team are all set to perform their latest production, Juggernaatuso on March 24 at Nishumbita theatre. A team comprising 11 dynamic actors who find themselves experimenting with different personas every single day, only seek to achieve execution so effortless that to a spectator, everything appears a part of the show. Adapted in Telugu from the Marathi play Aaliya Bhogasi written by Srikanth Sinkar, the play is based in an asylum, tracing stories of seven-odd ‘lunatics’, finding the lines between the sane and the insane irreversibly fudged. The idea is to connect with the audiences, to let them see their lives transcend on stage, to find resonances with the voices of the characters.
As actors live their other lives off stage, theatre gives an opportunity to explore multiple lives on stage. “It is a play about insane people but we need to think who really are insane?” asks Ram Dhanush Varma, who is playing the character of a social media influencer. “With the play being a little unconventional with its format, it has no cues. We have to improvise on the spot. It is completely left to us as to how to bring out the characters,” he adds, talking about the many moulds the play seeks to break.
The other members of the team include Zaheer Ahmed playing ‘sane guy’, Shyam Krishna Govind as a theatre artist, Nagaraju as TV reporter, Vijay Krishna Acharya as a food delivery boy, Vishal Krishna Tej as a cricketer, M. Pavan Kumar as a software employee, Roushab Singh Varma as a student, Trayambakeshwar Reddy as a doctor, Kiran Kumar as a ward boy and George Rakesh Babu as a minister. In full reverence of their director and owner of Sutradhar, Vinay Varma, the actors identify themselves as members of a family, where “painfully harsh” criticism is only meant to improve your skills.
While in a way, theatre is the edifice upon which moulds of society are broken, the play, in itself, questioning the existence of norms with its content and breaking shackles of set formats and normalised story-telling, being in a Sutradhar production requires a rhythm and a ‘discipline’ to be followed. “First thing you learn, here at Sutradhar, is to come on time. You can be late anywhere but not here,” said Pavan Kumar.
Trying to keep the mind-body connection intact, the actors practise multiple physical and relaxation exercises. “This is to be able to identify with the emotional aspects associated with each character, find the sensory memory that relates to it and perform,” says Zaheer Ahmed.
Responding to what theatre as an art form has added to their individual lives, the actors, first of all, acknowledged being introverts before joining Sutradhar. “Keeping aside the popularity aspect, theatre keeps you aware of your surroundings and the knowledge you have. You begin to analyse people and characters,” said Trayambakeshwar. “The biggest merit of working with Sutradhar is that it connects you to your roots. It is not just Shakespeare you think of, but other undervalued writers, who write in local languages such as Marathi and Telugu,” he added.
To bring out an Amitabh Bachchan within you and then shift to Shatrughan Sinha within seconds is the magic you see on stage but there goes immense hard work and observation to make that magic happen. The changes that theatre brings to our lives are not visible upfront, even to us, but when you come across a rash driver on the road, instead of being aggressive, you consider that the man might be going through something,” said George, the most experienced of them all. “Theatre becomes an integral part of your life,” he concludes.