Theatre season begins in MICA
Sankalp, the theatre arm of Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA), kicked off the 2010 theatre season on Saturday evening. The three directors – Shashank Sachdeva, Tarang Giridher, Druti Singh – showcased their talent with a riveting play, and the talented actors lending the extra-edge to the remarkable scripts, the full-house had much to cheer through the night.
The play for the evening was an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s story ‘He said with Arsenic’, the story of a gentleman killer. William Jones, the key protagonist, is a gentleman ‘born’ murderer, someone to whom killing comes so naturally, that he transforms it into a craft. Arsenic is his method of murder, and it is so flawless, that never do his victims know that they are being murdered. Things come to an impasse when he goes to murder his nephew and realizes that his nephew has seen-through the plot, and is aware that he is about to be killed. William Jones is such a gentleman, that, he then decides to drink the poison himself, as it is against his rules to kill someone who has seen through his plot.
The directors’ craftsmanship was palpable in the gripping performances by the cast, and the standing ovation that the team was given by a spellbound audience. The complex characters of the play were skillfully essayed by the brilliant actors, and the ripples of the play could be felt much later too. Jayant Rajpurohit, one of the audience that was floored by the play remarked, “”It was a brilliant play, putting Ruskin Bond on stage is not an easy task. Simple stories are hard to tell. I enjoyed every moment. A “hats off” production from the new Sankalp” team.”
“It was our vision that the opening night performance should set a benchmark for the year to come. We tried hard to live up to our vision, and hope the audience enjoyed it,” Tarang said. “We wanted to juxtapose William Jones’ gentlemanly character against his murderous instincts – it was a challenge to portray it on stage, but I think the cast managed to pull it off really well,” Shashank remarked. Druti added, “It is important to bring out the emotions in a play like this – simple stories make for great plays only if you can unearth the complex emotions lying beneath.”
The play set the tone for a year full of theatrical events. The immediate next event organized by Sankalp will be the Rangmanch – the street play. Sankalp has been collaborating with NGO’s in the past through the event Rangmanch- street play performances where the students of MICA go to the orphanages, old age homes, slums and other underprivileged areas and educate the people about the burning social issues relevant to them. This time Sankalp is going to celebrate Janamashtmi with the children of Visamo Kids Foundation on 22nd August 2011. The themes for the street play would be Child Labour, Superstitions and Peer Pressure.
Visamo Kids Foundation initiated by the Calorx Foundation brings intelligent and motivated children from underprivileged backgrounds from different parts of Gujarat to Ahmedabad and gives them an opportunity to study in good English medium schools in Ahmedabad. The Foundation also provides these children an environment conducive to education and empowerment. Children in Visamo Kids get a home, medical and emotional support, supplementary education and a chance to integrate with the mainstream society.
The country’s premier communications institute has ushered in another year of celebration of innovation in theatre with The Opening Night. In its twelfth year, Sankalp will explore India’s rich tradition of communicating history, values and culture from generation to generation through stories under the theme, Storytelling.
Expect a series of events lined up for the year including street theatre, workshops, experimental plays – all culminating in a grand three-day theatre festival at MICA and the annual production at the Natrani amphitheatre in November.
