Ms. Meena
August 7, 7.15 p.m.
Take a universal tale of revenge, place it in the colourful world of our Indian films, and add in liberal doses of quirky, socially-relevant humour.
The result would be ‘Ms. Meena', inspired by the classic play ‘The Visit' (1956) by Swiss-German playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt, and based on an original story written by Rashmi Ruth Devadasan.
It tells the story of Ms. Meena, an aging queen of the silver screen who returns to her village to make film on the story of her life, and in the process, exact revenge on the man who wronged her.
Since her departure many years ago, the village of Pichampuram has fallen into disrepair, and Ms. Meena uses the promise of money and the movies to turn the villagers against her former lover, Ravi, in a deliciously Machiavellian move.
“The lure of cinema and its promise of untold prosperity and fame exert a fatal attraction on the entire village, and lead it gradually into moral and ethical compromise,” says Rajiv Krishnan, director of ‘Ms. Meena'.
“The play uses a combination of laughter and pathos to seduce the viewer, much as cinema does. In the process, the distinction between the real and the reel becomes tenuous, and both serve to lead the story to its inevitable end.”
‘Ms. Meena' features a cast of five actors from the Chennai-based Perch and four from Bangalore-based theatre group Rafiki, and minimal sets, depending instead on creative use of props. Despite the dialogue being mostly in English, it contains a smattering of other languages such as Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, giving it a natural, colloquial feel.
“This was not a conscious decision but evolved from the simple fact that the actors were comfortable with these languages,” says Rajiv. “The story can be understood even if you aren't familiar with one or more of them.” Making the play even more entertaining is the music, singing (again in various languages) and background sounds — all live and evolved from improvisations by the actors. Revenge has rarely been more engaging.
Director's Cut
Why did you choose to place this re-imagining of ‘The Visit' within the world of South Indian cinema?
The central character of 'The Visit', Claire Zachanassian, is the richest woman in the world. When I first read the play, many years ago, I immediately saw her in my mind as an iconic film star.
That idea proved to be the starting point of our story. Introducing cinema as a central theme suggested many possibilities like music, dance, non linear editing, re-takes, etc., some of which we have incorporated into the play.
This line seemed relevant in the present scenario where film stars seem to wield an almost mythical power over the imagination of people. Nowhere is this truer than in South Indian cinema, though the central character in our play, Ms. Meena, has been conceived of as a pan-Indian superstar.
Your original script evolved in stages, and involved a lot of improvisation by the cast. How did this organic process impact the final product?
Our rehearsal schedule comprised three sessions adding up to a total of 48 days.
We had already decided at the start that we would have one complete performance for an invited audience at the end of each session, and these performances became the building blocks for the eventual play. In fact, a lot of ideas that came up in our first performance, which was created in 10 days, have been retained in the final piece.
One of the most striking aspects of the play is the incredibly inventive use of props. How did you make the choice to use them this way?
We had already started working with everyday objects in our last play ‘Sangathi Arinhya' (Have you heard!) which was rehearsed in a former motorcycle garage (most of the props for that play came from the garage).
In working with objects, the challenge for the actor is to connect with the imagination of the audience, which to me is much more satisfying than working with a realistic set.
