The writer is everywhere. He’s seeped into the words he’s penned, he comes alive in the actors who bring his stories to life and he’s at home in the rustic setting that recreates his world. Under The Mangosteen Tree, staged by Perch, is the weaving together of seven short stories of one of India’s most outstanding writers, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer.
Basheer, a writer and freedom fighter, has had an adventurous life. He travelled the country, doing many odd jobs along the way and meeting different people. He wrote about many of his experiences, and narrated some others he heard and witnessed. So whatever the story, the writer, in this case, is part of it. So it isn’t a surprise when the author himself is the central character in the play directed by Rajiv Krishnan.
The stories are presented one within the other — as Basheer (played by Paul Mathew) moves into a new house which is rumoured to be haunted by a ghost, the author forms a casual friendship with the spirit and says in exchange for not haunting him, he will tell her stories. He asks the ghost, who he lovingly calls “Bhargavi Kutty” why she’d want to take her own life for love and as he does so, his own love story from the years gone by unfolds. Then, a young Basheer (Iswar Srikumar), who is imprisoned for seditious writing against the British, comes on stage. He begins conversing with a voice beyond the prison wall — a cheeky, giggly one at that (Ashiqa Salvan) — and soon falls in love with her. The young writer narrates to her a story he is writing and as he does so, another story unfolds; one about a quaint conversation over marriage between Saramma (Rency Philip) and Keshava Nair, two people from different religious backgrounds. Woven between these stories are many more tales of love, loss and longing. The lines, infused with words in Malayalam, bring out the charm of the language and give it a touch of local flavour.
Even though the play has a non-linear plot line, the scenes transition effortlessly and the story flows smoothly. However, the different themes that are touched upon take the audience through different moods and emotions. While the domestic problems of Jameela (Aparna Gopinath) and Adbul Khader, resplendent with slapstick humour, induce laughter, the anguish and disillusionment of the soldier who’s returned from war (Ravindra Vijay) spell pain. Anand Sami delivers an earnest performance as the soldier’s transgender lover, talking of loneliness and longing, and wins not just the acceptance of the soldier, but also of the audience.
The seven-member cast takes on several roles, and delivers a memorable performance that is rife with humour and emotion.
The play has an easy pace and shifts between a variety of themes. What works, quite simply, is the simplicity of the whole affair. Rustic pots and props, step ladders, and a grandfather chair under a mangosteen tree made of rods and ropes is all it takes to create the setting for seven different stories to unfold. The stage at Alliance Française is small, but much is done with it and the old-world film music sets the atmosphere perfectly.
Yet, despite the simplicity, there is much food for thought in the stories of the celebrated author. And this play, brings it to life beautifully.
