BENGALURU: Stories that explore the fragility of human relationships while being stuck between four walls during the Covid lockdown will come alive in the play Vodka & No Tonic at Ranga Shankara this weekend. A first-person perspective of five characters, the humorous stories shed light on how difficult situations can alter or even break relationships. Directed by and featuring veteran theatreperson Lillete Dubey, the play is an adaptation of the popular collection of short stories Lockdown Liaisons by novelist-columnist Shobhaa De.
“Lockdown Liaisons was written and published during the pandemic. This was the entire objective. I did not want to look back at an unprecedented, cataclysmic time in the world’s history once the horror was behind us. I wanted to record it as the tragedy played out, so I wrote a series of short stories in first person about various anxieties and fears that people went through,” explains De. For the theatrical production, a set of five stories out of 26 will be staged.
Seventy-four-year-old De feels she chose to write these stories as these issues are common to everyone who lived through the pandemic. “These stories are not just about what happened during the pandemic, but they are stories of human vulnerability, fear, insecurity and frustration,” she shares, adding that the stories were relatively easy to adapt to the stage since they were all written as monologues. “Hearing words you have written being spoken and enacted is, in a way, a new experience for me.”
Having been in the limelight for more than four decades, De never felt compelled to alter her writing style or be less vocal about sensitive subjects. “I remain true to myself. I do not write for critics. I write what I want to share – the decision to read or not read remains with the readers. The barrage of criticism is noiseless to my ears. That is how it has always been. I neither pander nor cater. This is my voice. This is my work. I am proud of both. Since I have been writing professionally for 50 uninterrupted years in mainstream media and across platforms, it is safe to assume my words and thoughts resonate with readers spanning three generations,” she says.
De’s repertoire has been vast, but her writings on subjects considered taboo such as sex and desires have often overshadowed her other works. How does she respond to critics who accuse her of intentionally writing about controversial subjects to remain in the spotlight? “No writer in the world can sustain a long career based on controversy. I write and say what I believe in. Controversy per se does not faze me - never has. I find ‘safe’ very boring. A writer’s job is to provoke – not soothe,” she shares, adding that she is inherently curious about what makes people tick, but society seems to be largely preoccupied with ‘all things sexual’.