KOCHI: In 2016, a group of theatre artists from Prakash Kalakendra in Kollam got together to adapt Anton Chekhov’s play The Bet. Written by P J Unnikrishnan and directed by Sreejith Ramanan, Ekantham is a take on solitude, within the confines of a prison cell.
A lawyer and a banker argue on whether life imprisonment or capital punishment is more humane. The lawyer takes a bet to prove that life imprisonment was better and spends 15 years in jail to prove his point.
The play will be staged in Kochi for the first time on April 29 and 30 at the Fine Arts Hall.
To draw attention, Kalakendra, in association with the Centre for Contemporary Art (CART), Kochi, has set up five installations on the theme of solitude (Ekantham), Tripunithura bus stand, Vytilla, High Court junction, and the Town Hall.
“This is the first time intallations have been used to popularise a play. Art, especially theatre, is liberal and we can use several ways to tell a story. Instead of using hoardings or advertisements, this seemed to be more effective,” says Johnson Devassy, chairman of CART, which was started recently. It is a conglomeration of theatre artists, filmmakers, sculptors, and art designers. One of the installations made by art designers Satish and Abhilash depicts a branch sculpted from iron. A pupa lingers on it in a solitary position. The other installations depict books, bicycles and kites.
The play
Actor Rajesh Sharma, who has acted in several movies, plays the role of a lawyer in Ekantham. He decides to get locked up to prove his point that life imprisonment is better than capital punishment.
“Since the play is very popular, the greatest challenge is to ensure that the play makes an impact on the viewer. Playing the lawyer helped me understand the fragility of life even better. P J Unnikrishnan’s script is very deep and has helped in enriching the play,” says the actor.
Other artists include Sreekumar P K, Riju Shivadas and Smitha M Babu. This is the second time the play is being staged in Kerala. The first was in Kollam in November, 2016. To finance the play, Kalakendra has started a project called the family audience bank for the purpose.