MUMBAI: Theatre director Sunil Shanbag has a penchant for staging historical and semi-historical incidents to put the spotlight on contemporary times. Last year, he produced and directed the Utpal Dutt-written ‘Barricade’, which exposed Hitler’s strategies for winning majority votes through a ruthless crushing of dissenters and a well-oiled propaganda machinery. This year, Shanbag will be showcasing ‘The Horse’, for Aadyam Theatre, an Aditya Birla Group initiative, which spoofs the Roman emperor Caligula’s idiosyncrasies and streaks of violence. ‘The Horse’ is based on Hungarian playwright Julius Hay’s play by the same name, written in 1962.
Shanbag first read Hay’s play in 1982 and, ever since, he has wanted to stage it but did not have the means earlier for mounting the large-scale production. “The play struck me as a wonderful example of a biting satire, lampooning authoritative absurdity, blind sycophancy and the complicity of the elite; and I am very happy that I am able to stage it now,” he states, during a break in a rehearsal.
Senior actor Akash Khurana, who essays the role of Caligula, says power and neurosis are the operative words for him are to understand the psyche of a man who has been looked upon differently by different people. Both characteristics are evident at the rehearsal, where his boot-licking coterie are seen horsing around, encouraging his mad ventures. Galloping across the floor to Kaizad Gherda’s lively music, Caligula’s sycophants celebrate the appointment of a horse that the whimsical emperor won in gambling, as Consul. Ridiculous obsequiousness is taken to another level when one toady suggests they should get the best of mares to please the new Consul.
What is the play’s relevance in today’s times? “History keeps repeating itself, so the play resonates with the audience in whichever period authoritarianism asserts itself,” replies Shanbag. “Hay was responding to the occupation of East Europe by the USSR, while my version of his play, today, reflects a global phenomenon. I think the situation all over the world today is very scary and it is important to respond to that.”
According to Shanbag, the horse in the play could stand for anything or anybody. “The idea is to show something or someone as so sacred that it loses all perspective. The play is about our willingness to totally suspend rationality,” he states.
While dramatists like William Shakespeare have depicted power-hungry figures through tragedies, Shanbag has chosen to present Caligula through a farcical comedy. “I think contemporary theatre does not have enough comedies to project serious subjects,” he observes. “But comedy can be a very powerful means of saying something important. ‘The Horse’ is a crazy, over-the-top comedy that tells a semi-fictitious, historical story to understand current times. Using humour and satire, it sharply dissects the absurdity of a world hurtling towards chaos.”
Accentuating the underlying satire of the play are its songs, written by Asif Ali Beg who says it was a challenge for him to write them. “I had not worked in the genre of political satire before this,” he points out. But discussions with Shanbag and background reading helped him to deliver just what was required. So, even in a tipsy scene in a tavern, the tipplers mouth words about Rome’s decline. Written in limerick form, the song combines the lightness of a drunken ambience with the sharpness of satire. Putting Beg’s words to music is Kaizad Gherda who has also composed the background score for some of the scenes. “What I have composed is both grand and playful, mirroring the grandeur that was Rome and the farce that plays out against it,” shares Gherda.
Adding to the entertainment quotient are choreographers and movement directors Shampa Gopikrishna and Bertwin Ravi Dsouza. “After detailed discussions with Shanbag and watching some rehearsals we got an idea of the style, aesthetics and pulse of the play. After that we created movements and choreographed dances that would be most effective in conveying the spirited mood of the play,” they explain. This entailed studying the basic anatomy, movement pattern and nuances of a horse as well as conducting workshops with the cast in raw physical movement and dance. “Thereafter, we let the actors play around with horse movements, letting them fuse their own style with it. It has been a lot of fun. There is a very challenging sequence of an entire horse race which the audience sees through the eyes and expressions of the actors who make it come alive,” add the duo.
(‘The Horse’ will be staged at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Bandra, on August 9 and 10.)