HYDERABAD : Films of late have the privilege of looking backward and tracking how its progress has been.
The most recent one is ‘Exploring Shiva after 25 years.’ And this is not uncommon for directors to release select excerpts of the making of their celluloid ventures, the behind-the-scenes compilation of their productions and so on. Plays unfortunately do not have this privilege.
But one, Post Mortem, the play directed by Vinay Varma (an adaptation from Marathi) and staged by his theatre group Sutradhar attempts something in this regard. It takes a no-holds-barred backstage view of what happens during rehearsals and the tugs-of-war between various departments associated with putting a theatre event together. Obviously, not all the exchanges between the players concerned are parliamentary. And worse, fit to be seen on stage -- given that artistes, be it theatre or film world are considered temperamental, egoistic and self-obsessed.
Thus, this unconventional act takes off and lasts a good 45 minutes, stringing together a retro-style play of a love triangle. Replete with over-the-top villainy, bizarre background music and exaggerated acting styles.
The language is coarse at times, as it is expected to be with the offstage and onstage performers merging in and out of the play. It takes a linear route and ends with the guilty punished and sticking to a start-to-finish schedule.
A dozen odd regulars of the theatre group who have been seen in many recent ventures of it come together and perform in what can be considered a cross, between a farce and street theatre. The effect comes through well, but the humour seemed strained and the audience, tickled only in fits and starts.
It must have been a cathartic experience of sorts for the performers to lay bare the pressures of getting into the character and out of it, the challenge that they need to overcome every time they are on the stage. It is an experimental effort for sure and the presenter who introduced characters at the beginning of the play to indicate that things are going to be different, assured herself and her team that unlike last time around when it was staged a few months ago, this time the play has become a ‘hit’. The audience did not laugh this time!