Drama:
Krishna Shah Yatri
An Unidentified Play
· A stage without curtains
· Background devoid of light
· Play trapped in the walls of darkness
· Mute spectators, waiting impatiently for the play to start
· A non-character rises from amidst the spectators
Non-character: Dear spectators! You are welcome to this play. In a while, we will start our performance, ‘An Unidentified Play’. We believe that in the first staging of this play written by Anam and directed by Aakar, you will get yourself fully engrossed. Do please stop your cell phone’s technical terror during the play. This time is completely the play’s time, and not of side-talks. Please do not walk in and out of the theater during the play. Do not eat anything. If you are taking snaps, do not use the flash lights. The light can distract the actors. Lastly, a reminder: if you do not like the play, do tell us and if you do, tell others. Thank you. Here goes the performance ‘An Unidentified Play.’
· Again, there’s black-out.
· The spectators are waiting for some light.
· At the backstage, we can hear a faint conversation.
· Abhinav enters.
Abhinav: (comes to the mid-stage, crying. He throat seems chocked.) I beg pardon from all of you. We can show you any drama today…(silent) I am sorry, I am having to say this for the first time on a stage, with a heavy mind and heart. Though our preparations are complete, we are found to suspend it for the day. (the spectators face one another in the dark) I know, you are not ready to believe what I am saying. But whatever I am saying is true. I am extremely pained to announce the dismissal of the play before its commencement. Please, switch the light on the audience.
Spectator 1: (in a state of confusion) Oh, what’s this? Is it a dialogue from the script, or you mean what you are saying?
Spectator 2: Silence please!
Spectator 3: Oh, who’s that talking in the middle?
Spectator 4: Excuse me! I was thinking, they were really stopping the play following some untoward accident somewhere.
Abhinav: You are right. Just a while ago, a terrible accident occurred. We got the information only a while ago. The author of this play our dear Mr. Abhinav died in the accident.
Spectator 1: Oh, death of the playwright?
Spectator 2: Brother Anam is dead?
Spectator 1: O what an amazing joke is it?
Abhinav: Did you believe me yet?
Spectator 1 / 2: Aren’t you ashamed of jesting on such a serious issue?
Abhinav: This is not a jest, friends! The news has hurt us too, to our depth. Our actors just got the news from some source at the backstage. Playwright Anam was bound hither to watch the play. His vehicle was hit by a truck, and he lost his life on the way. We are deeply saddened by the shocking news.
Spectator 5: What are we to do, then?
Spectator 6: O yes, what should we do?
Spectator 7: Someone tell us, what should we do?
Spectator 8: Guide us, please.
Spectator 3/4: Does that really mean there will be no play today?
Abhinav: We are unable to decide what we should do and what we should not. (emotional) The great playwright of this play is no longer in this world now.
Spectator 1: I don’t believe the news at the least.
Spectator 4: Neither do I.
Spectator 3: How are we to believe it, after all?
Spectator 2: I had talked with Brother Anam just half an hour back.
Spectator 1: Enough of this bluff. Please start the play now. We have bought tickets for the play. We don’t know anything else.
· Utter silence
· Spectators are in confusion
Abhinav: O God! Which scene am I forced to act in? How can I act, when my dearest playwright has died? Can I act in the first place? No, I can’t. I beg your pardon, dear spectators. I shared a disturbing news in the midst of such an entertainment atmosphere.
· A gush of emotions chocks his heart.
· The spectators grow alert.
· A woman actress Drishti enters.
Drishti: Abhinav! Wake up. There’s no point in crying now. We can make our great playwright return, by amplifying our sorrow.
Abhinav: Drishti! Why was it all destined to happen today itself?
Drishti: We could not have averted a thing that was destined. This was perhaps the limit of Brother Anam’s life.
Abhinav: Drishti, hasn’t his death touched you at the heart?
Drishti: It has, Abhinav. But, at the moment, we are characters in his play; creations of his mind. We must start the play as tribute to him, if not for any other reason.
Abhinav: No. There is no meaning in performing the play anymore.
Drishti: Abhinav, it doesn’t suit an actor like you to say so. We must perform for the sake of our viewers. We must embolden our hearts, and act professionally.
Abhinav: You are talking of performance even in such a grave hour?
Drishti: Yes, I am. I acted all my life. I ate in the theater, slept there. I lived a play and lived in it. In a situation we face today, I want to continue acting. I want to fuse with a play in a new fashion.
Abhinav: But how can I be acting? I have forgotten most of the dialogues on hearing the news of the playwright’s death. There’s nothing in my mind save blankness and the playwright’s badly damaged face. Drishti, I cannot act.
Drishti: That’s not fair, Abhinav. You are a skilled actor with a heart that’s even better. You were the one who inspired me to enter the theater, and today, I have reached this stage. You can act in all circumstances and you must. That shall be our true tribute to the departed soul. Come; look there at our spectators. Many eyes are expectantly looking at us. They too want us to commence the performance. We must start the last play of our great playwright without delay.
Abhinav: But Drishti, everything has come to an end. (takes a long gasp) Our playwright has departed. With that, an age and this play have ended. This is a reality, however bitter it might have been. We must understand it. Why aren’t you ready to understand?
Drishti: (making her face grim) I have understood the matter, Abhinav. An age has ended; yet, we are bound to perform the play. Our job is to perform plays, not non-plays.
Abhina: If so, can’t we declare the closure of these performances?
Drishti: How can we do that? We are characters. Just characters….
Abhinav: Is a character barred from shedding tears at the death of his or her playwright?
Drishti: When being watched by the spectators, a character cannot act willfully.
Abhinav: If so, come; let’s ask the spectators if we should perform the play.
· Both the actors concentrate on the spectators.
· Light spills in the gallery.
· Some spectators are seen excited.
Drishti: (coming forward) Dear spectators! You tell us what we should do.
Abhinav: At this hour of grief, should we go ahead with the performance?
Drishti: Please tell us only after careful thinking.
Abhinav: Aren’t we the actors human beings?
Drishti: But we haven’t forgotten our duties.
Abhinav: Don’t we have sentiments? Aren’t we same as other human beings?
Drishti: Please think with open mind and tell whether we should perform the play or abandon it.
· Some inaudible whisper emanates from the gallery.
· A spectator stands.
Spectator 5: Does it mean, playwright Anam is no longer alive in this world?
Abhinav: True. He is no longer in this world now.
Spectator 4: But, how is it all possible?
Spectator 3: Please tell us in detail.
Abhinav: We also don’t know the details.
Drishti: All we have is an information of his death.
Abhinav: (cutting her short) He was coming towards this theater to watch our performance.
Drishti (cutting him short) And before he reached, a truck hit his car.
Abhinav: And he died in the mishap.
Spectator 1: O Ram!
Spectator 2: O Allah!
Spectator 3: O My God!
Spectator 4: Oh! This is too bad. What are we to do now?
Spectator 1: Perhaps, we must stop the play here and go to the accident site.
Spectator 3: It’s possible that he is alive; we must call his home.
Spectator 2: Perhaps he has been rushed to a hospital.
Spectator 4: In that case, we must rush to the hospital too.
Spectator 5: No. He was coming this way. His last wish was to see today’s performance.
Spectator 1: If so, do you want to cite that reason and make this performance continue?
Spectator 5: You’re right.
Spectator 9: I totally agree with you all. It’s possible that the soul of our beloved playwright sits at some corner of the theater here, waiting for the play to start.
· The sound of a bang is heard at the backstage.
· The spectators look quite skeptical.
· Abhinav and Drishti look quite terrified.
Abhinav: Oh, what’s that?
Drishti: What it — a bang?
Sound A from the rear:
Nothing is wrong here, Brother!
Sound B from the rear:
Perhaps, it’s a bomb blast, out there.
Spectator 5: That means, this place too is not safe.
Spectator 4: Checking is start in a short while.
Spectator 1: And with the checking, there will be traffic congestion everywhere.
Spectator 9: It’s a profitless boon of the twenty-first century.
Spectator 3: The even the traffic can go off the road.
Spectator 5: And they can never announce a national shut-down.
Spectator 2: There too is a possibility of curfew.
Drishti: And that can impede the funeral of our beloved playwright.
Abhinav: That will be even worse and inauspicious.
Drishti: I was feeling the omens right from early morning today. I knew, something untoward would certainly come about.
Abhinav: I too had a bad dream last night. I saw Saptakoshi flooded, and water all dark and turbid.
Drishti: Abhinav, you happened to see flood. But I saw a black silhouette pursuing me along the comedowns at Nagdhunga. And some people, you know what? Someone caught my hands tight. I stopped and looked back. Oh God; it was our playwright dressed all in white.
Abhinav: And then? What followed next?
Drishti: Then he asked what was happening with me. I told him in a breath that the ghost-like character from his play was pursuing me.
Abhinav: And then?
Drishti: Then he said, the character would no longer follow me. I instantly turned back, and lo, the silhouette was not there.
Abhinav: And then? Tell more.
Drishti: And I woke up. I didn’t relate such a ghastly dream to anyone. Abhinav, I think, our playwright had visited the minds of each one of us one form or the other before dying.
Spectator 2: Oh! In one form or the other?
Spectator 5: In one form or the other?
Spectator 6: In one form or the other?
Spectator 7: In one form or the other?
Spectator 3: In one form of the other?
Drishti: Yes, in one form of the other.
Abhinav: Or, it can just be a premonition we felt.
Spectator 10: I don’t believe you a bit.
Spectator 6: There’s nothing trustworthy in your babbles.
Spectator 7: You are trying to belittle the great playwright by connecting him with trifles.
Abhinav: That’s not quite true. You took us wrongly. I am not trying to belittle the playwright in his death.
Spectator 9: If so, you must start the play without ado.
Spectator 5: That will be the truest tribute to him.
Drishti: You’re right. I will go to the green room and instruct all the co-actors to get ready for the play to start shortly. Abhinav, you too come with me.
· Drishti exits.
· Abhinav stands, vacant.
· The spell of stillness breaks after a moment.
Abhinav: This is not fair.
Spectator 9: What is not fair?
Abhinav: This is not, at all, fair.
Spectator 9: What is that which is not at all fair?
Abhinav: It’s unfair to show a play on the day its author had died.
Spectator 4: You’re right. Instead of condoling his death, we are disturbing the playwright’s soul.
Abhinav: Why can’t we stop the play at the death of a playwright, who entertained us all his life with plays of different colors?
Spectator 5: No, that’s not right. That will mean, we are boycotting the playwright’s creation.
Spectator 9: And it too will mean that with his death, we also killed all his plays.
Spectator 1: But we must never forget that a new person is born, when a living one dies.
Spectator 3: Are you talking about reincarnation?
Spectator 1: Yes, I am taking about reincarnation.
Spectator 2: I like the idea. It’s possible that in the death of this playwright, the mysteries of the birth of another one is embedded.
Abhinav: Leave the absurd discussion here. Rather, let’s come to a decision.
Spectator 2: Decision?
Spectator 9: Decision?
Spectator 4: Decision?
Spectator 1: Decision?
Spectator 5: Decision? What sort of decision?
Spectator 9: In my view, the decision to continue the play would be the best one.
Spectator 5: I too think the same; the play should go ahead.
Spectator 7: I too am with you; the play should go on.
Spectator 9: Same is my opinion. The performance should commence.
Spectator 8: And I opine the same. Let it go.
Abhinav: But I have a different opinion. If you all would accent, we must express our view on the playwright today. We must comment on his past and upcoming plays, and about the characters he created.
Spectator 10: But why?
Spectator 11: Why should we perform a post-mortem of his characters?
Spectator 1: Why should we strip his dialogues?
Abhinav: Because, I have watched each of his characters by living through them. I have lived like a hapless prisoner at times, while at some other occasions, I have lived the life of a monk or a mad lover. Truly speaking, all my life, what I did is amplified sorrow through his plays. (pointing at Spectator 1). Today, I am interested in asking you something.
Spectator 1: To me?
Abhinav: Yes to you. Who gave you the permission to rejoice in my sorrow? Why are you content to see me experience pain in the plays?
Spectator 1: Because, I am a spectator. My job is to feel.
Abhinav: And? And what about my job?
Spectator 6: To give life to a character a playwright generates.
Spectator 4: You and the character you act for are different individuals.
Spectator 7: You should not be hurt by the emotions of a character, internally.
Spectator 1: Else, it can invite accidents on the stage.
Spectator 5: I have seen with my own eyes an actor hitting his real lover with a knife in a fit of emotion. The poor girl breathed her last right in front of our eyes. Only after her death did we know, she had been hit with a real knife. The actor was sentenced with life terms. What can we tell about him?
Abhinav : I think, he was a great artist.
Spectator 4: Great artist?
Spectator 6: Great artist?
Spectator 5: Great artist?
Spectator 7: Great artist?
Spectator 1: But why should we call him ‘great’?
Abhinav: Because, he knew the truth of life.
Spectator 1: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he started an additional journey.
Spectator 3: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he discarded the imported pain.
Spectator 8: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he started a mute war.
Spectator 5: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he got lost in his own colors.
· Commotion at the backstage
· Everyone’s concentration is de-centered
· There are slogans, “Long live!” and “Down with…”
Solo voice: Murder is not allowed!
Group voice: Not allowed! Not allowed!
Solo Voice: Killer shouldn’t be spared!
Group voice: Shouldn’t be spared! Shouldn’t be spared!
Solo Voice: Implement rule of law!
Group voice: Implement! Implement!
Solo Voice: Hang the killer!
Group voice: Hang him! Hang him!
· The voice grows fainter.
· The director of the play enters the stage.
· A stage without curtains· Background devoid of light
· Play trapped in the walls of darkness
· Mute spectators, waiting impatiently for the play to start
· A non-character rises from amidst the spectators
Non-character: Dear spectators! You are welcome to this play. In a while, we will start our performance, ‘An Unidentified Play’. We believe that in the first staging of this play written by Anam and directed by Aakar, you will get yourself fully engrossed. Do please stop your cell phone’s technical terror during the play. This time is completely the play’s time, and not of side-talks. Please do not walk in and out of the theater during the play. Do not eat anything. If you are taking snaps, do not use the flash lights. The light can distract the actors. Lastly, a reminder: if you do not like the play, do tell us and if you do, tell others. Thank you. Here goes the performance ‘An Unidentified Play.’
· Again, there’s black-out.
· The spectators are waiting for some light.
· At the backstage, we can hear a faint conversation.
· Abhinav enters.
Abhinav: (comes to the mid-stage, crying. He throat seems chocked.) I beg pardon from all of you. We can show you any drama today…(silent) I am sorry, I am having to say this for the first time on a stage, with a heavy mind and heart. Though our preparations are complete, we are found to suspend it for the day. (the spectators face one another in the dark) I know, you are not ready to believe what I am saying. But whatever I am saying is true. I am extremely pained to announce the dismissal of the play before its commencement. Please, switch the light on the audience.
Spectator 1: (in a state of confusion) Oh, what’s this? Is it a dialogue from the script, or you mean what you are saying?
Spectator 2: Silence please!
Spectator 3: Oh, who’s that talking in the middle?
Spectator 4: Excuse me! I was thinking, they were really stopping the play following some untoward accident somewhere.
Abhinav: You are right. Just a while ago, a terrible accident occurred. We got the information only a while ago. The author of this play our dear Mr. Abhinav died in the accident.
Spectator 1: Oh, death of the playwright?
Spectator 2: Brother Anam is dead?
Spectator 1: O what an amazing joke is it?
Abhinav: Did you believe me yet?
Spectator 1 / 2: Aren’t you ashamed of jesting on such a serious issue?
Abhinav: This is not a jest, friends! The news has hurt us too, to our depth. Our actors just got the news from some source at the backstage. Playwright Anam was bound hither to watch the play. His vehicle was hit by a truck, and he lost his life on the way. We are deeply saddened by the shocking news.
Spectator 5: What are we to do, then?
Spectator 6: O yes, what should we do?
Spectator 7: Someone tell us, what should we do?
Spectator 8: Guide us, please.
Spectator 3/4: Does that really mean there will be no play today?
Abhinav: We are unable to decide what we should do and what we should not. (emotional) The great playwright of this play is no longer in this world now.
Spectator 1: I don’t believe the news at the least.
Spectator 4: Neither do I.
Spectator 3: How are we to believe it, after all?
Spectator 2: I had talked with Brother Anam just half an hour back.
Spectator 1: Enough of this bluff. Please start the play now. We have bought tickets for the play. We don’t know anything else.
· Utter silence
· Spectators are in confusion
Abhinav: O God! Which scene am I forced to act in? How can I act, when my dearest playwright has died? Can I act in the first place? No, I can’t. I beg your pardon, dear spectators. I shared a disturbing news in the midst of such an entertainment atmosphere.
· A gush of emotions chocks his heart.
· The spectators grow alert.
· A woman actress Drishti enters.
Drishti: Abhinav! Wake up. There’s no point in crying now. We can make our great playwright return, by amplifying our sorrow.
Abhinav: Drishti! Why was it all destined to happen today itself?
Drishti: We could not have averted a thing that was destined. This was perhaps the limit of Brother Anam’s life.
Abhinav: Drishti, hasn’t his death touched you at the heart?
Drishti: It has, Abhinav. But, at the moment, we are characters in his play; creations of his mind. We must start the play as tribute to him, if not for any other reason.
Abhinav: No. There is no meaning in performing the play anymore.
Drishti: Abhinav, it doesn’t suit an actor like you to say so. We must perform for the sake of our viewers. We must embolden our hearts, and act professionally.
Abhinav: You are talking of performance even in such a grave hour?
Drishti: Yes, I am. I acted all my life. I ate in the theater, slept there. I lived a play and lived in it. In a situation we face today, I want to continue acting. I want to fuse with a play in a new fashion.
Abhinav: But how can I be acting? I have forgotten most of the dialogues on hearing the news of the playwright’s death. There’s nothing in my mind save blankness and the playwright’s badly damaged face. Drishti, I cannot act.
Drishti: That’s not fair, Abhinav. You are a skilled actor with a heart that’s even better. You were the one who inspired me to enter the theater, and today, I have reached this stage. You can act in all circumstances and you must. That shall be our true tribute to the departed soul. Come; look there at our spectators. Many eyes are expectantly looking at us. They too want us to commence the performance. We must start the last play of our great playwright without delay.
Abhinav: But Drishti, everything has come to an end. (takes a long gasp) Our playwright has departed. With that, an age and this play have ended. This is a reality, however bitter it might have been. We must understand it. Why aren’t you ready to understand?
Drishti: (making her face grim) I have understood the matter, Abhinav. An age has ended; yet, we are bound to perform the play. Our job is to perform plays, not non-plays.
Abhina: If so, can’t we declare the closure of these performances?
Drishti: How can we do that? We are characters. Just characters….
Abhinav: Is a character barred from shedding tears at the death of his or her playwright?
Drishti: When being watched by the spectators, a character cannot act willfully.
Abhinav: If so, come; let’s ask the spectators if we should perform the play.
· Both the actors concentrate on the spectators.
· Light spills in the gallery.
· Some spectators are seen excited.
Drishti: (coming forward) Dear spectators! You tell us what we should do.
Abhinav: At this hour of grief, should we go ahead with the performance?
Drishti: Please tell us only after careful thinking.
Abhinav: Aren’t we the actors human beings?
Drishti: But we haven’t forgotten our duties.
Abhinav: Don’t we have sentiments? Aren’t we same as other human beings?
Drishti: Please think with open mind and tell whether we should perform the play or abandon it.
· Some inaudible whisper emanates from the gallery.
· A spectator stands.
Spectator 5: Does it mean, playwright Anam is no longer alive in this world?
Abhinav: True. He is no longer in this world now.
Spectator 4: But, how is it all possible?
Spectator 3: Please tell us in detail.
Abhinav: We also don’t know the details.
Drishti: All we have is an information of his death.
Abhinav: (cutting her short) He was coming towards this theater to watch our performance.
Drishti (cutting him short) And before he reached, a truck hit his car.
Abhinav: And he died in the mishap.
Spectator 1: O Ram!
Spectator 2: O Allah!
Spectator 3: O My God!
Spectator 4: Oh! This is too bad. What are we to do now?
Spectator 1: Perhaps, we must stop the play here and go to the accident site.
Spectator 3: It’s possible that he is alive; we must call his home.
Spectator 2: Perhaps he has been rushed to a hospital.
Spectator 4: In that case, we must rush to the hospital too.
Spectator 5: No. He was coming this way. His last wish was to see today’s performance.
Spectator 1: If so, do you want to cite that reason and make this performance continue?
Spectator 5: You’re right.
Spectator 9: I totally agree with you all. It’s possible that the soul of our beloved playwright sits at some corner of the theater here, waiting for the play to start.
· The sound of a bang is heard at the backstage.
· The spectators look quite skeptical.
· Abhinav and Drishti look quite terrified.
Abhinav: Oh, what’s that?
Drishti: What it — a bang?
Sound A from the rear:
Nothing is wrong here, Brother!
Sound B from the rear:
Perhaps, it’s a bomb blast, out there.
Spectator 5: That means, this place too is not safe.
Spectator 4: Checking is start in a short while.
Spectator 1: And with the checking, there will be traffic congestion everywhere.
Spectator 9: It’s a profitless boon of the twenty-first century.
Spectator 3: The even the traffic can go off the road.
Spectator 5: And they can never announce a national shut-down.
Spectator 2: There too is a possibility of curfew.
Drishti: And that can impede the funeral of our beloved playwright.
Abhinav: That will be even worse and inauspicious.
Drishti: I was feeling the omens right from early morning today. I knew, something untoward would certainly come about.
Abhinav: I too had a bad dream last night. I saw Saptakoshi flooded, and water all dark and turbid.
Drishti: Abhinav, you happened to see flood. But I saw a black silhouette pursuing me along the comedowns at Nagdhunga. And some people, you know what? Someone caught my hands tight. I stopped and looked back. Oh God; it was our playwright dressed all in white.
Abhinav: And then? What followed next?
Drishti: Then he asked what was happening with me. I told him in a breath that the ghost-like character from his play was pursuing me.
Abhinav: And then?
Drishti: Then he said, the character would no longer follow me. I instantly turned back, and lo, the silhouette was not there.
Abhinav: And then? Tell more.
Drishti: And I woke up. I didn’t relate such a ghastly dream to anyone. Abhinav, I think, our playwright had visited the minds of each one of us one form or the other before dying.
Spectator 2: Oh! In one form or the other?
Spectator 5: In one form or the other?
Spectator 6: In one form or the other?
Spectator 7: In one form or the other?
Spectator 3: In one form of the other?
Drishti: Yes, in one form of the other.
Abhinav: Or, it can just be a premonition we felt.
Spectator 10: I don’t believe you a bit.
Spectator 6: There’s nothing trustworthy in your babbles.
Spectator 7: You are trying to belittle the great playwright by connecting him with trifles.
Abhinav: That’s not quite true. You took us wrongly. I am not trying to belittle the playwright in his death.
Spectator 9: If so, you must start the play without ado.
Spectator 5: That will be the truest tribute to him.
Drishti: You’re right. I will go to the green room and instruct all the co-actors to get ready for the play to start shortly. Abhinav, you too come with me.
· Drishti exits.
· Abhinav stands, vacant.
· The spell of stillness breaks after a moment.
Abhinav: This is not fair.
Spectator 9: What is not fair?
Abhinav: This is not, at all, fair.
Spectator 9: What is that which is not at all fair?
Abhinav: It’s unfair to show a play on the day its author had died.
Spectator 4: You’re right. Instead of condoling his death, we are disturbing the playwright’s soul.
Abhinav: Why can’t we stop the play at the death of a playwright, who entertained us all his life with plays of different colors?
Spectator 5: No, that’s not right. That will mean, we are boycotting the playwright’s creation.
Spectator 9: And it too will mean that with his death, we also killed all his plays.
Spectator 1: But we must never forget that a new person is born, when a living one dies.
Spectator 3: Are you talking about reincarnation?
Spectator 1: Yes, I am taking about reincarnation.
Spectator 2: I like the idea. It’s possible that in the death of this playwright, the mysteries of the birth of another one is embedded.
Abhinav: Leave the absurd discussion here. Rather, let’s come to a decision.
Spectator 2: Decision?
Spectator 9: Decision?
Spectator 4: Decision?
Spectator 1: Decision?
Spectator 5: Decision? What sort of decision?
Spectator 9: In my view, the decision to continue the play would be the best one.
Spectator 5: I too think the same; the play should go ahead.
Spectator 7: I too am with you; the play should go on.
Spectator 9: Same is my opinion. The performance should commence.
Spectator 8: And I opine the same. Let it go.
Abhinav: But I have a different opinion. If you all would accent, we must express our view on the playwright today. We must comment on his past and upcoming plays, and about the characters he created.
Spectator 10: But why?
Spectator 11: Why should we perform a post-mortem of his characters?
Spectator 1: Why should we strip his dialogues?
Abhinav: Because, I have watched each of his characters by living through them. I have lived like a hapless prisoner at times, while at some other occasions, I have lived the life of a monk or a mad lover. Truly speaking, all my life, what I did is amplified sorrow through his plays. (pointing at Spectator 1). Today, I am interested in asking you something.
Spectator 1: To me?
Abhinav: Yes to you. Who gave you the permission to rejoice in my sorrow? Why are you content to see me experience pain in the plays?
Spectator 1: Because, I am a spectator. My job is to feel.
Abhinav: And? And what about my job?
Spectator 6: To give life to a character a playwright generates.
Spectator 4: You and the character you act for are different individuals.
Spectator 7: You should not be hurt by the emotions of a character, internally.
Spectator 1: Else, it can invite accidents on the stage.
Spectator 5: I have seen with my own eyes an actor hitting his real lover with a knife in a fit of emotion. The poor girl breathed her last right in front of our eyes. Only after her death did we know, she had been hit with a real knife. The actor was sentenced with life terms. What can we tell about him?
Abhinav : I think, he was a great artist.
Spectator 4: Great artist?
Spectator 6: Great artist?
Spectator 5: Great artist?
Spectator 7: Great artist?
Spectator 1: But why should we call him ‘great’?
Abhinav: Because, he knew the truth of life.
Spectator 1: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he started an additional journey.
Spectator 3: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he discarded the imported pain.
Spectator 8: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he started a mute war.
Spectator 5: Means?
Abhinav: Means, he got lost in his own colors.
· Commotion at the backstage
· Everyone’s concentration is de-centered
· There are slogans, “Long live!” and “Down with…”
Solo voice: Murder is not allowed!
Group voice: Not allowed! Not allowed!
Solo Voice: Killer shouldn’t be spared!
Group voice: Shouldn’t be spared! Shouldn’t be spared!
Solo Voice: Implement rule of law!
Group voice: Implement! Implement!
Solo Voice: Hang the killer!
Group voice: Hang him! Hang him!
· The voice grows fainter.
· The director of the play enters the stage.
