In the aftermath of Vardah, three trees fell right next to Gowri Ramnarayan’s room. One of them used to curtain her windows. Ramnarayan was distraught. “When I sat down to write a play on Drona, I imagined Kripi, his wife, as a tree lover. The play began with that seed of an idea. She was born in the forest and raised by its dwellers.” And, thus was born When Things Fall Apart , a play written, designed and directed by Ramnarayan, the founder and artistic director of JustUs Repertory.
“I started writing about Drona and ended up writing about Kripi. She became the moral spine to the story. What fascinated me about Drona is that he is a man of great learning, a disciple of Parasurama. However, he does not have ethical values or humility. He fights with his classmate, Drupada. He nurses that grudge for years. He is not large-hearted enough to forgive.”
He also gives the acharya his seal of approval by staying silent when Draupadi is disrobed. “His excuse was, ‘I have eaten the king’s salt’. And in my play, Kripi says, ‘Stop eating the salt. Let’s go.’”
Many stories
Dark Horse is a fictionalised play on a real life single meeting between a determined Tamil journalist and a highly cantankerous and reclusive bilingual poet Arun Kolatkar. She wrote this play in 2004, around 12 years after she had met the poet in Mumbai. This non-realistic play, employing music and movements and 10 poems by Kolatkar, is also written, designed and directed by Ramnarayan. The two plays will be presented at Just Fest, organised by JustUs Repertory and Chennai Art Theatre, to celebrate 10 years of JustUs. The lighting design has been done by B Charles for both the plays. Says Ramnarayan, “ Dark Horse offers possibilities to do anything you want because it is non-realistic, while When Things Fall Apart demands classic lighting.” Praveen Sparsh plays live instrumental music for When Things Fall Apart and Savita Narasimhan performs live vocal for the Dark Horse. “ Sparsh is a one-man orchestra, comprising mridangam, chimes and guitar. Dark Horse employs many genres — from Carnatic music to Brit pop, jazz blues and Marathi abhang. “Singing Carnatic music to this kind of production is not easy, but Narasimhan has done it effortlessly,” says Ramnarayan. The cast comprises established theatre actors including Venkataraman Balakrishnan (Nisha), Sunandha Raghunathan and Akhila Ramnarayan. Ramnarayan feels her actors are wonderfully committed and have soaked in their characters. “My greatest moments of joy are during the rehearsals. It is amazing to see the growth of these actors in their roles, from the first to the final week. The actors have surprised me with their creative inputs.”
