On a writer’s trail

Ajay Krishnan’s Touching and Moving has been explored in-depth by director Vinod Ravindran

CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF A PLAYWRIGHT In the metaphysical realm

If it is an Ajay Krishnan play, you can expect a witty script, layered with meaning.

Writer of acclaimed plays such as Trivial Disasters , Butter and Mashed Banana , among others, Ajay’s Touching and Moving , which was shortlisted for the 2009 MetroPlus Playwright Award, directed by Vinod Ravindran, will be staged this week.

Presented by Rangabhoomi, a SAP Labs theatre group,

Touching and Moving is about Anand Narayan, a writer, whose stories start coming alive. Vinod, over phone, explains the plot. “It revolves around a meta-fictional idea that is taken a few steps forward. At one level, there are characters trying to talk to the writer and figure out their roles. At another level, there are real life people who share the same stories as the characters. They realise that the writer has answers they are searching for, and that he must give them the answers. There is also some idea of a time-space-loop in the play.”

This is the first time that Vinod is directing a play written by someone else. “I spoke to Ajay a few times about the characters. But there is no point with the writer and director working together and just getting one idea of the play. The play has within it several possibilities at one time, which I have explored,” says Vinod, whose original plays such as

Somewhat like a Balloon and Raja Tantra Choo Mantra have been very successful. The cast includes 10 actors from Rangabhoomi. “They are passionate about doing plays. They have day jobs and rehearse in the evenings. They’re intense and give it their all,” says Vinod of the actors.

As a director, Vinod says he likes to create plays for himself. “If I already know what the play is, then I get easily bored. I like to search possibilities that are beyond the obvious. For example, if I want the audience to feel a sense of loneliness or melancholy, I wouldn’t depict it in the obvious way of a man sitting on a rock, by the seaside, looking ahead. Instead, I would look at several possibilities to create that sense of sadness.”

In

Touching and Moving , too, Vinod has used a projector to convey the idea of surrealism. “We’ve made a few themes to bring that alive. I want to leave the audience with the sense that something is altered.”

Touching and Moving will be staged at Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield on September 10 at 3pm and on September 11 at 3 pm and 8 pm. Tickets cost Rs. 250 and are available at the venue and on bookmyshow.com. Call 9964571957.