Lilette Dubey returns with Mahesh Dattani's best-known play

PERFECTLY STRUCTURED A scene from "Dance Like A Man"

Arguably Mahesh Dattani's best play, "Dance Like A Man" draws its authenticity from the playwright's own training in Bharatanatyam, with traditional gurus U. S. Krishna Rao and Chandrabhaga Devi. In the process, the Gujarati boy was exposed to a wholly different, often puzzling, south Indian culture. This early personal experience infuses the play with a vibrant credibility.

"Dance Like A Man" has been a tremendous success for The Primetime Theatre Company, with 225 shows so far, a record for an Indian play in English. Heartening too, for the aim of the company is to promote original Indian writing in English.

Based in a specific Bangalore milieu of Bharatanatyam, "Dance Like A Man" uses the impending debut of daughter Lata, trained by her parents Ratna and Jairaj, to bring long-festering wounds into the open.

Jairaj, the only son of a successful businessman, a nationalist in the pre-Independence era, decides to abandon family trade for classical dance, and to marry Ratna, a Bharatanatyam artiste. The father is appalled by this changeling behaviour. His disgust grows as the couple live off him and pursue the `immoral' career. His stratagems finally destroy Jairaj, he is emaciated on and off the stage. After the wife's betrayal, it is liquor that keeps him going. She too has her demons to fight. Daughter Lata's arangetram catalyses the cracking of control. Secrets slip out of hiding and torment the couple.

Situational humour

But "Dance Like A Man" is not gloomy. Rarely has situational humour been handled so well in Indian theatre as when the daughter's Gujarati boyfriend stumbles into an `alien' world of the traditional arts. Tickles, tears, traumas, the play has them all, as also a perfect structure striding across three generations. Dattani's use of English is so spontaneous in this play that you forget the language. The Primetime Theatre Company's production manages to retain these genuine local flavours. No wonder, it established rapport with audiences as different as those in London, New York, Kathmandu and Lahore.

Lillete Dubey, Vijay Crishna, Joy Sengupta and Suchitra Pillai have grown into their roles through the long run.

The Director's Cut

Lilette Dubey

Do you think "Dance Like A Man" will speak to South Indians?

Yes, it is one of our more crowd-pleasing performances, and we were very excited to be bringing it here. It has a strong element of the South Indian in it, and the focus on Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music should make it interesting for the audience in Chennai.

You are a big proponent of staging and supporting homegrown English theatre. What draws you to plays like "Dance Like A Man"?

Well, it is their Indian-ness . Audiences often feel alienated if they watch a staging of something derivative: Shakespeare, or something about Maria in Manhattan. I want to see something about Maya in Madras! We all want to feel important enough to have plays written about us. When it is Indian characters, in India, it really gives the audience something they can feel strongly about, a story that they can get involved in.

So what can be done to build up a body of indigenous English Theatre?

Everyone needs to take risks! When you choose to stage a classic, from Neil Simon to Arthur Miller, it is simpler, because you are producing something that is tried and tested. But we forget that even those plays were worked on over and over until they reached the level they are at now. We all need to do our part, by writing more plays and by staging them, by taking the risk, and turning them into something special. It's not easy, and it takes a lot more work. None of the plays I do are perfect. They are all flawed, but the audience is more forgiving because the story is about them. It's often a gamble, but at the same time it is worth it, because the process is so enjoyable, and the end result so positive for the audience.

TEJAS EWING

GOWRI RAMNARAYAN