Marathi play Tu selected for international experimental festival

Rooted in the mysticism of Sufi culture, the play will also be on at the Prithvi festival  which starts next month 

Seventeen awards and a year of dream run later, the Marathi play Tu, rooted in the mysticism of the Sufi poet and saint Jelalluddin Rumi took a giant leap to Cairo in Egypt. It was the only Indian entry to the prestigious 11-day International Festival of Experimental Theatre, which began on October 10. In fact Tu was the third Indian entry in the 20-year-history of the festival.

Theatre enthusiasts can watch the play at the Prithvi festival on November 8. A flagship production of the Pune-based group Asakta, Tu directed by the hugely talented Mohit Takalkar and scripted by Satee, a promising playwright and scriptwriter, was staged for the competitive section on October 17 and 18 at an auditorium called Horriya Lycee.

“It is a rare honour that we could make it to this festival, which showcased about 70 plays by as many groups from all over the world,” said Ashish, a prominent actor of the group and its manager. “The audience response was fabulous. In spite of the language problem people appreciated our effort,” he said flashing a triumphant smile.

For Satee, the two-act play was more of an inward journey, evident in its structure. “It defies the concepts of space and time and focuses on the quest for true love. When I first read Rumi quite a few years back, it turned out to be a life-changing experience. The characters evolved later keeping in mind the verses of the saint,” she said.

Some 52 poems of Rumi, translated in Marathi by Satee, serve as dialogues for Tu, which has been enacted on almost a bare stage to give a feel of timelessness. The only prop was a stool.

When Takalkar took up the play, he turned it into a spectacle but managed to retain its mysticism which is the guiding light of the text and the performances. “It came about through intense reading of Rumi’s works, regular visits to a vipassana centre and long rigorous rehearsals,” said Ashish.

The credit for Tu’s success can also be attributed to Pradeep Vaiddya who did the lights for this production. “My biggest challenge was to create a series of settings through lights to portray the gradual internal transformation of the characters,” Vaiddya said over telephone.

Tu not only does wonders for Asakta, but also puts Marathi experimental theatre back in the reckoning after a long spell of obscurity.                     
g_pratik@dnaindia.net