Tales of dissent

Director Sunil Shanbag (second from right) rehearses with actors Jaimini Pathak, Mansi Multani, Sapan Saran, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Varun Kulkarni and Nachiket Devasthali. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

Under the glow of yellow lights that illuminate Studio Tamaasha, an intimate theatre space in Andheri, musician Rohit Das strums his guitar. The riffs match the pace of the foot-tapping number, Gaon chhodab nahin, jungle chhodab nahin… that actor Varun Kulkarni sings in the Nagpuri dialect of Jharkhand. Eight actors, sitting around him, sing the chorus. The folk song talks about how the adivasi way of life is undermined by the government. It was penned by lyricist Meghnath for a video directed by KP Sasi, originally inspired by a song by Bhagwan Maaji, leader of adivasi struggle against bauxite mining in Kashipur.

As the song ends, actors Jaimini Pathak and Mansi Multani narrate two poems - Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali's Land and Palestinian poet Tawfiq Zayyad's Olive Tree. Though penned in different parts of the world, both reflect the idea of forced migration.

Watching the rehearsal in rapt attention, director Sunil Shanbag asks the next performers - Ayesha Raza Mishra and Sapan Saran - to move their stools slightly, so that they face each other, to enact a tense rendezvous between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar. The dramatised reading - an English passage translated by Shanta Gokhale from Premanand Gajvee's Marathi text, Ambedkar Viruddha Gandhi - highlights the leaders' difference of opinion over the issue of the caste system.

Irawati Karnik and Saran

These texts, along with over 20 others from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, the USA, Palestine and Iraq, have been reinterpreted in a two-hour performance titled, Words Have Been Uttered. Premiering tonight, it packs in poetry, songs with live music and skits - all to highlight the idea of dissent. "Dissent has been part of Indian tradition for long. In the time we live in, it's important to reiterate the need for multiplicity of views," says Shanbag.

The texts have been curated by Tamaasha Theatre co-founder Saran and playwright Irawati Karnik. Saran says, "We didn't wish to focus on a single movement. So, the texts highlight various kinds of dissent - caste, gender and state vs individual. Though we began with research on Indian writers, we found many from other countries too." For instance, Karnik connected with a US-based illustrator-journalist, who helped her source writings from underground poets and filmmakers in Syria. She adds, "We wanted to include writers from across time - from Bhakti poets to contemporary ones."

From: Tonight till August 6, 8 pm
At: Bungalow no 76, Aram Nagar Part 2, Versova, Andheri West
Log on to: bookmyshow.com
Cost: 354