BENGALURU: In these times when youngsters are content to communicate through smartphone screens, it can be difficult to form and nurture close relationships. A feeling of loneliness and disconnect arising from this is not uncommon among those in their 20s and 30s.
Earthquake, directed by 26-year-old Samragni Dasgupta, a Bengaluru-based theatre practitioner, is set to explore this deep-rooted loneliness and the unspoken silences that linger in our relationships with others, at Max-Mueller Bhavan this Sunday.
“If you want a play that is viscerally honest about how young generations, particularly us in our 20s, struggle with connecting with other people and building substantial relationships with solid foundations, then you should come watch this play,” says Dasgupta.
The play follows two friends, Mira and Sameer, as they meet every week, and share a familiar red apple. One day, something changes – the apple is green. Dasgupta asks, “What happens when you have such tiny changes in something that you’re comfortable with?
Why has this person even brought something different? Is it to change the routine? If so, what is the difference between these two people – one who really wants the routine because it makes them feel safe and comfortable and the other person who’s tired of it? What do you do in such a relationship then?”
Soon, loaded silences take over their relationship, they come together, drift apart and the cycle repeats.“If you struggling to connect and be vulnerable, does it mean that you’re less important to each other? Not necessarily. So what is it about communication that has become so fragile these days,” she questions.
The play emerged out of a grant from the International Cultural Projects initiative by The Department of Arts and Culture of the City of Munich, due to which Dasgupta could collaborate with German co-writer Marvin Krause to create the multilingual play Bhumikampa - Das Erdebeben in a combination of English, German and Bengali. While it premiered in Munich in 2022, Earthquake, an adaptation, saw an initial run earlier this year in English, Malayalam and Hindi. It was staged in English, Hindi and Kannada for the first time in October, starring Yamuna Kali and Naman Roy as the main characters.
With the narrative hinging on conversations and miscommunication between the characters, Dasgupta involves her actors in the adaptation process. “I think the lost in translation aspect of these two characters was something that kept coming out when writing it and I’ve continued to play with. It plays a huge role in how well these two communicate with each other. It happens even with the actors, they tend to glow on stage when they speak their mother tongue. There’s something so honest and vulnerable about it. When translations are done by the actors themselves, it always helps with the authenticity,” she says.
Dasgupta hopes to leave audiences reflecting on their own relationships, rather than give neatly packaged answers. “I want them to go home and call up their loved ones,” she says. “I want them to leave having watched something that pushes them to reflect on themselves and how they communicate with others. This is not a play where you sit, you watch and you understand it. It’s always something that you have to take home with you,” she concludes.
(Earthquake is set to be screened at the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Indiranagar, on Nov 10 at 7pm. Tickets Rs 300 on bookmyshow.com)