CHENNAI: Since the time of its origin, theatre has been an integral part of different cultures, countries and tradition. From portraying naturalism and surrealism to melodrama and modernism, the stage has been a platform for many to express and communicate. It so happens that, most plays are written based on personal experiences or on things that usually happen around the playwright.
Shekinah Jacob, who will be in the city with her play Queen of Hearts, says that her inspiration to write plays comes from people she interacts with. “I’m deeply interested in the reasons why human beings behave the way they do. So, inspiration usually comes from strangers I observe in public places and from real life stories in history and media.”
The playwright who started writing at a very young age, had won a national short story competition while in school, and since then, there has been no turning back. She went on to write and direct several plays after that. Her latest play, Queen of Hearts which is a musical, she says is a modern take on an epic historical tale of an immigrant queen, which is narrated through song and dance as much as through dialogue.
How challenging was it to write a musical? “It demands attention not just to dialogue, music and dance, but also to the aesthetics and rhythm. It has to be so fine-tuned that it flows seamlessly creating a coherent organic piece of theatre,” she says.
The play, which took Shekinah nine months to complete, has a set of actors whom she chose based on a combination of both talent and team spirit, apart from a professional commitment to the rigours of rehearsal. Relating the completion of the musical to giving birth, Shekinah says, “It took me about nine months to see it through first germ of an idea to writing drafts, lyrics for songs, then working with musicians and dancers and finally putting it together on stage,” she adds.
Having written plays like Ali J, The Long Way Home, We Are Water, and Seven for a Secret, the director-cum-playwright says that her greatest reward comes from watching the audience react to her play. “When I write, I don’t think of what response to expect. I am completely focussed on staying true to the characters inside my head. Appreciation comes in the form of the audience laughing and tearing up,” she smiles.
Shekinah says that the 90-minute play is an entertainer and also offers something for the audience to ponder over. “I always find a personal connect with my plays. Now that this play is out in the world, I’m already quite obsessed about a new idea that I have for the next one,” she says.
The play will be screened today from 7 pm at Government Museum, Egmore. For details call: 7904156701