Two prisoners, named One and Two, clad in denim overalls, are stuck in a black box, awaiting trial. Their crimes are unclear and their fate undetermined. “Was it because I clogged the kitchen sink?” asks One while Two blames it on her habit of “overthinking”. They are stuck with each other for eternity with only a menacing chair—presumably to administer electric shock therapy—for company.
This is the setting of the 30-minute-long absurdist play The Age of Prison performed in six short acts. In a stark departure from theatrical tradition, the audience doesn’t watch their perils in real time. They, instead, stream them live from their homes at their convenience, just like they would the latest OTT shows. The platform enabling this is Alfaaz Theatre, an online space that digitises and archives theatrical productions from across the world to view on demand. You pay and watch the play as many times as you want within a span of 48 hours. Last year, Alfaaz launched its web platform with TiMe and 4 Last Things. While the first one is a 22-minute play exploring the ties that bind, the second play tells the story of a businessman who is found murdered in his home.
The Age of Prison—streaming from May 13—is performed in a unique hybrid live virtual format. Though most of the play is like a regular theatre performance, some scenes such as the psychedelic ‘The Dream’ use the recorded aspect to their advantage by incorporating music, lights and a variety of movements that would be difficult to perform live.
Originally presented during the lockdown of 2021, the play, written and directed by Ankit Verma, who also plays the role of One, was picked as the winner of a grant put out by Harkat studios and the German embassy. Verma recalls, “Harkat’s team loved the idea of two prisoners stuck in a dystopian jail, controlled by a fascist jailer, which is the audience.”
Its success at the time caught the attention of the founders of Alfaaz Theatre, Yamini Joshi and Evita-Marie Marques, who were looking for something interesting. “It was an impactful story, which we felt would be ideal for our platform. It’s an experimental piece that is interactive and cerebral,” says Joshi. Marques adds, “It’s very powerful. It has many layers which stand out, but don’t scream for attention.”
Plays, at their core, are designed to be staged for an audience. A hybrid live recorded performance of this kind brings with it a unique set of challenges. Rashmi Mann, the actor who plays the role of Two shares, “It was challenging to decide what we were trying to showcase, how loud we needed to be, where to look while keeping the essence of the theatrical performance.” For Verma, the toughest part was working with three cameras without making the result look like a film, and he kept tweaking the performance till he was satisfied.
Does this herald a new chapter for thespians across the world? Joshi and Marques believe so. “We want to make theatre accessible to everyone. As artists ourselves, we know the importance of live performances, but we want to create an ecosystem that can sustain itself. People need to believe in theatre again,” they say.
When & Where
The Age of Prison is available on pay-per-view basis for 48 hours at a time on the Alfaaz Theatre website