After waiting in a long queue, scrambling for seats and finally making their way to them, the audience couldn’t wait for the long-anticipated play – Einstein starring Naseeruddin Shah. After presentations by Vajra, an organisation teaching self-defence to women, the play finally started in Einstein’s room – typically made of books, a coat and hat, and his clothes splayed on the furniture. In the opening scene, Einstein was found at his desk talking about how the earth revolves around the sun and his thoughts on science veer ing into references to his secretary Helen (or his bodyguard as he sometimes calls her). In due course, the play covers everything from the atom bomb, him being approached to take up the responsibility of Israeli President, to helping a little girl with her homework!
With dialogue laced with humour and the production paced with its fair share of lighter moments, 75 minutes seemed to fly by, a lot quicker than we realised.
For instance, in a scene while Einstein was explaining a serious concept, he suddenly looked down to realise that he was not wearing socks. To which, he stated matter-of-factly, “Socks are an unnecessary complication, they only produce holes!” The crowd couldn’t contain themselves, cheering in the midst of a roar of laughter at the observation.
As those in the Music Academy settled into the play, Naseeruddin Shah (who was indistinguishable from Einstein) was in his element reeling out dialogues, without pausing to think and also modifying the dialogues to suit the scientist’s German accent. Journalist was pronounced ‘Yoournaliste’ (and there were digs at them to show how they asked questions). The ambience was a dimly-lit set and there was slow music being played in the background that accentuated Shah’s performance through the evening.
One of the highlights of the evening was also the theory of relativity, that the scientist is well known for. Despite clear skies on this Sunday, Shah as Einstein, decided seemingly at random to illustrate the concept using the example of a lightning bolt. He explained that people standing in rain and those perhaps viewing it from a moving train would see the same occurence quite differently. ‘One man’s now is another man’s then,’ he summed up.
The play came to an end, with a little of all the elements that reminded us of the famed scientist coming together – his eccentricity, him playing the violin and of course that quote of his that most know byheart. ‘God does not play dice with the universe.’ Einstein’s silhouette disappears into the sunset as the lights dim, and suddenly we’re back in an auditorium in Chennai, miles away Einstein’s study in the realms of our imagination.
