Hari Ramakrishnan, Chennai-based theatre practitioner is also an avid browser — be it history, stories or scientific facts. It was on one of his online browsing expeditions about the Cold War era, that he chanced upon a one-liner that claimed that Russia invested heavily for experiments on soldiers, to use them against US forces. Further research led him to the infamous Russian sleep experiment, and that’s how Subject UH1317 , Light and Blind productions’ second play, came into being.
“Two doctors, three subjects in a sealed chamber and one drug-induced paranoia”, reads the one-line synopsis of this psychological thriller which traces the journey of three subjects of a government-funded experiment.
“It is definitely not for the faint-hearted,” laughs Hari as he goes on to describe the sleepless nights of research that led to this play, written by Shruti Parasuraman.
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Music plays an important role in the production, says the director. “Though it is digitalised, the mild background music contributes to the setting of the play,” he continues. Stunts and violence too play integral roles. The script weaves in a fictional story into the concept of pushing human beings to the extreme. “In the name of Science, experiments like these escape the ‘war crime’ tag, which is dangerous. That is what we are focusing on,” concludes Hari.
Subject UH1317 will be performed on March 8 at 5 pm and 7 pm, and on March 10 at 4 pm and 7 pm, at Alliance Francaise of Madras. Tickets are available on www.bookmyshow.com.