A 35-second play described by its writer as “simply light coming up and going down on a stage littered with miscellaneous unidentifiable muck, synchronised with the sound of breath” is part of a compendium of especially brief works by Samuel Beckett presented by the Shakti Ensemble. Directed by classical dancer and movement practitioner Lakshika Pandey, Bebaak Beckett debuted at Harkat Studios last Sunday, and now moves just a stone’s throw away to the Castiko Space for four more shows. Both venues are part of a constellation of bijou performing centres at Andheri’s Aaram Nagar, a haunt for film aspirants that has become a breeding ground for a burgeoning new fringe. Apart from Breath , the short play described above, Pandey’s eight-strong ensemble will attempt to tackle Not I and Act Without Words II , pieces that are as challenging as they are succinct.
Senselessly profound
Beckett’s oeuvre forms a significant part of what critic Martin Esslin describes in his seminal book, Theatre of the Absurd (1962). Esslin was referring to a spate of post-WWII existential plays by mostly European playwrights that drew out the sheer meaninglessness of life, striking a nerve with an increasingly disaffected populace if not with the critics of the time. The breaking down of meaning as we know it was an inexorable feature of such plays. Although self-admittedly introduced to the genre only a year ago, Pandey soon discovered Beckett’s almost senselessly profound Endgame , which had her hooked. “Walking the thin line between two polar opposites without denying the other was compelling to me,” she explains. The precarious coalescing of contradictions in Beckett’s works resonated with her.
Not I , for instance, features only the mouth of its performer, purportedly providing voice to a woman who was virtually mute till the age of 70, and whose unexpurgated spiel now gushes forth in a torrent — more akin to thoughts than actual speech, full of fragments, pauses, mistakes. It is a monologue that is almost unintelligible. Pandey’s team came up with a multi-lingual translation that was mostly faithful to the original with only sparse cultural references altered for Indian audiences. “In translation, the character became much more relatable, which also allowed us to connect better with Beckett’s essence,” she says. Up to four weeks of a two-month schedule were spent by the ensemble in simply comprehending the playwright and his paradoxes, followed by a period of intense physical training and voice work.
Minimalist staging
In Not I , a multiplicity of tongues creates a synchronous ‘buzzing’, and in Breath , Pandey dispenses with the recorded soundscape mandated by Beckett’s instructions in order to create a single entity’s exhalation with the live breathing patterns of her ensemble. “I prefer minimalism in staging, in which an actor’s craft is utilised to its fullest capacity,” asserts the director. Bebaak Beckett ends in complete silence with a staging of the non-verbal Act Without Words II , a two-hander featuring what might be the alter-egos of an individual unwittingly betrothed to an automated existence.
Bebaak Beckett will take place on October 5 and 7, 2018 at Castiko Space, Aram Nagar II, Andheri West; more details on Facebook and tickets on instamojo.com
