BENGALURU: With all the din surrounding the Citizenship Amendment Bill and National Register of Citizens, perhaps there would have been no better timing for a play on the migration issue to come to India. After over 120 shows worldwide, the play, Boy With A Suitcase, is finally set for a homecoming. The play, a joint production by Ranga Shankara and Schauburg production of Germany, will be staged at Ranga Shankara from Dec 12-14, for the theatre’s 15-year celebration. It will also be showcased at Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa.
Boy With A Suitcase revolves around 12-year-old Naz, who takes up a long and a dangerous journey from an undisclosed location to be with his sister in London. On the way, he meets Krista, who helps him travel safely. The story deals with the issue of migration, and you can watch it to find out if Naz made it to his destination.
The production came about in 2009, when a bunch of theatre artistes came together. The first hurdle was to find a topic that audiences worldwide would connect to. “We were looking for a story that could be relatable to people of Germany as well as India. After discussions with Arundhati Nag and team of Ranga Shankara, we found out that immigration is one of the most important issues of discussion, not just in Europe but also in India,” says director Andrea Gronemeyer, who has a theatreperson for more than 30 years.
The play is based in London since that’s where its writer, Mike Kenney, one of England’s leading writers specialising in young people’s theatre, lives. But Gronemeyer says it can be from any part of the world, and the boy will probably have the similar issues. She also believes that since the cast and crew of the play are from different parts of the world, who have experienced leaving home and finding a new one for a better life, the play gets a personal touch.
The main cast of the play comprises Coordt Linke, David Benito Garcia, Konarak Reddy, M D Pallavi, Nikolai Jegorow, Shrunga BV and Simone Oswald. Linke, Reddy and Pallavi have also worked on the music for the production. The play has retained most of its original cast, expect for a certain period when they had to bring substitutes because some of the artistes had to take maternity and paternity leave.
So after 10 long years, what does the director plan to do with the Boy With A Suitcase? She laughs, saying, “I don’t know what to do with him now. Probably we will give him a little rest. When we started, I never saw it coming such a long way. Maybe if opportunity comes, we might take it to places it has not travelled before.” The last time Gronemeyer was in Bengaluru was in 2014, when the play was performed here earlier. She is now looking forward to meeting her old friends and the “intelligent and warm-hearted” audience that has been accepting topics like this.
Many nations, one voice
The play is multi-cultural in nature. It consists of actors from India, Germany, Russia, Spain , Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belarus and Taipei. It has travelled to many places across the world, including London, Dublin, Berlin, Oslo, and Copenhagen.