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Play : Poshak.
Venue: Abhimanch
Date: 16 th Jan
Time : 9.30 pm
Poshak. Hindi. 2 hrs 15 mins
Prod. National School of Drama Repertory Company, Delhi. Dir. Tripurari Sharma
Story ( Play)
An exuberant but unemployed youth, Kanti, is caught between expectations from his mother and his own passion for music. His soulmate Asmita, a young and cheerful girl, is a witness to his struggle between these two extremes. Though she identifies herself with him and his music, she is practical enough to realize the futility of his pursuing music as a career.
Kanti comes in touch with Nitin, son of a rich businessman, who also has a bent for music. Realizing their common interest, they conceive an orchestra party, but the whole idea is grounded before it can take off. Roshan Lal, a local political activist, aware of the volatile nature of Kanti in his dealing with public issues, tries to exploit him for the larger cause of the society. He succeeds in his efforts and provides Kanti with a political platform, besides taking care of the financial needs of Kanti’s family.
He gets involved in the political activities of his locality to such an extent that he starts drifting away from Asmita and music. Nitin takes advantage of these developments and tries to get close to Asmita, convincing her that Kanti will never return. On the other hand, Kanti’s mother is only too happy with Nitin’s affinity towards Asmita as she sees the latter as a hindrance to Kanti’s political growth. She gets busy with fixing up a good match for him with a girl belonging to some rich family.
Kanti relentlessly pursues neighbourhood politics, till he comes to realize that this is not what he wanted. Disillusioned, he leaves Roshan Lal for good and tries to get back to Asmita and his music. But it is too late.
Feeling like a wretch, and in utter despair, pushed almost to the verge of losing his sanity, Kanti encounters Nitin in a dreamlike state and stabs him to death. Roshan Lal offers to protect Kanti from the police. Under overwhelming pressure from his mother, he gives in and agrees to a settlement with Roshan Lal, much to the disappointment of Asmita, who tries to make him confess his crime. At the end of it all, Kanti is left lost and lonely, and seeks to be himself, insulated from everybody, family, friend and society—enjoying this state of being unattached, which he finds very soothing.
About the Director
Playwright-director Tripurari Sharma (b. 1956), now Associate Professor in Acting at NSD, got her Diploma in Direction from the same institution, before setting off on a rich career in playwriting and direction, working with activist and theatre groups in different states in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, conducting and leading many workshops. A major playwright, she represented India at the First International Women’s Playwrights Conference held in the USA in1988. she has also written and co-directed a number of short films, and provided dialogues for several feature films.
Director speaks
‘I can still relate to this play written a few years ago, though many meanings and images have changed with the passing of time. We who questioned, must also answer and that’s where lies the ambivalence and hence further exploration.
Poshak implies the layers that come with social roles, work, relationships and thought. It is a structure, a box. The clad identity is often the image, not always identical with the self. This struggle generates a conflict from within and creates a journey through many facets and experiences of the tangible world. The play is about Kanti, a person as also the creative restless self within all of us that may not always be able to endure the ordinary and the familiar. And yet yearns to be reborn.
The play does not have a well-defined structure, but is a simple story, simply told. There are transitions, sometimes created by a twist of events and sometimes by the drift of a thought. The songs too are sometimes a part of the story and sometimes of telling.
The present performance owes a great deal to the actors of the Repertory Company who brought in many new facets that called for rewriting and modification. It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge their contribution they have made to the production and the script.’
Cast and Credits
Kanti Teekam Joshi
Maa Nasreen Ishaque
Asmita Nidhi Mishra
Nitin Chinmay Das
Roshan Lal Souti Chakraborty / Suman Vaidya
Bhai Sanjay Mapare
Punam Dakshina Sharma
Bhabhi Vandana Sharma
Lottery-wala Binod Sharma
Chaku-wala Abdul Kadir Shah / Sadanand Patil
Dukandar Nirmal Kant Choudhary
Darzee Dr. Govind Pandey
Kanti’s Friends Subhash Chandra, Naveen Singh Thakur, Sameep Singh,
Binod Sharma, Dakshina Sharma, Sanjay Mapare
Women Daksha Sahrma, Priti Jha, Neha Sarraf, Ujjala Barman
People in Market All the Repertory Artistes
Sets Robin Das
Lights Parag Sarmah
Costumes Amba Sanyal
Make-up Sadanand Patil
Choreography Gilles Chuyen
Music Sandeep Srivastav
Musicians: Lalit Kapil, Arvind Singh (keyboards); Anirudh Chakravorty (guitar); Viji (rhythm); Sharat Chandra Srivastav (violin)
Singers: Sandeep Srivastav, Govind Pandey, Sameep Singh, Subhash Chandra, Naveen Singh Thakur, Amit Kumar Pathak, Vandana Sharma, Daksha Sharma, Priti Jha, Dakshina Sharma
Script and Direction Tripurari Sharma
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ART & THEATRE