Synopsis
This new piece from Aasakta is a theatrical presentation of an article by renowned playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar. This article titled Necropolis had appeared in a magazine a few years ago.
In his visit to Pakistan, Mr. Elkunchwar went on to visit Makli (near Karachi), the world heritage town of tombs. The article is the outcome of the psychological movement witnessed by Elkunchwar in his trip in the arid town of the dead from the Sindh region.
Necropolis, beginning as a plain, dry narrative, steadily progresses to unfold a kaleidoscopic memoir of the playwright in an autobiographical manner. Sometimes it takes you to the emotional landscape of the mind and at others it talks to you candidly about past events and people.
Three actors unfold the entire spectrum before us in the theatrical presentation.
This is not a conventional drama piece nor is it an abstract representation of the article. The tone and narrative style of ”reading an article” is maintained throughout the performance and yet several interactions take place to depict scenes from past, present and in the virtual space of the mind or the imagination. The human subconscious often serves as a sort of burial ground. However, things, events, feelings and people buried in the subconscious sleep there alive. A trigger of some kind brings them forth and we revisit them.
The playwright’s visit to the city of dead provides such a trigger to his past buried in his subconscious and a surreal mixture of emotions, events and conversations emerges.In this sense, Elkunchwar’s visit to the necropolis of Makli becomes a surreal and metaphorical experience and this is what we see and experience in Aasakta’s stage presentation “Necropolis”.
Director’s Note
I feel lucky enough to stumble upon Elkunchwar’s article ‘Necroplois’. It was a mine full of rich language, surreal experiences, lucid conversations, and wonderful people. My main aim was to keep the quality of the written word and not try and milk a piece of dramatic theatre from the same. It was the premier choice to keep the article as it is and with the help of simple theatrical tools attempt to present the world which Elkunchwar has beautifully woven. It also leaves a void in my mind thinking about the banal quality of life I have led till date and my inability to absorb life to its fullest, the way Elkunchwar seems to have enjoyed in this piece. I feel like a poor beggar walking to a sage- so rich and profound.
When I decided to undertake this project, I realized the material which was available was huge. Apart from this particular piece, there is this huge repertoire of this writer and the numerous characters and memories which have been a part of my understanding of this magic called ‘Theatre’. . But I decided to take the plunge and went through most of the available material. It was important to know as much as I could about him. Because even if I was creating a piece of fiction, it was based on a person whom I know personally and it had to be handled with utmost care. Also, though it is striking to know that Elkunchwar always places himself in the centre of all his writing, it is necessary to understand the meaning beneath his words and writings.
The challenge was to keep the surreal quality in the stage adaptation which is evident and strong in the piece of literature. My work as a director or a devisor was mainly a playground for the performers. Also the text which we arrived at had a powerful narrative and the words (Elkunchwar’s) did most of the job. It would have been unfair to impose any ‘directorial’ form on them and create an impressive performance. The question then was what do I do as a director? Do I just remain passive and let the piece happen? What is the role of a director in such case? What is pace? What is design? What is space? What is powerful conversation? What is acting? What is connection? I think one must split the word “direct” down the middle. Half of directing is, of course, being a director, which means taking charge, making decisions, saying “yes” and saying “no”, having the final say. The other half of directing is maintaining the right direction. Here, the director becomes guide, he’s at the helm, he has to have studied the maps and he has to know whether he is heading north or south. We talk of directing, the notion is vague and includes too much. According to the accepted idea, the director is there to take the various means at his disposal – lighting, colours, set, costumes, makeup, as well as the text and performance – and play on them all together as if on a keyboard. By combining these forms of expression he creates a special director’s language in which the actor is only a noun, an important noun, but dependent on all the other grammatical elements to give it meaning. But, in fact, theatre has the potential – unknown in other art forms – of replacing a single viewpoint by a multitude of different visions.
We live in a time in a society where we are surrounded by more fiction than any other time in history, and so we are anaesthetized to a certain extent to what goes on around us. Therefore, as artists, when we are trying to express these things, we have to reveal them as being true. In order to reveal them as being true they have to have the shock of revelation because most of the time, as spectators, we don’t believe the truth of what we see because we’ve become more and more aware of fiction.
With great pleasure and satisfaction, I present my latest piece so simple yet potent. Necropolis.
