A Hindi adaptation of Italian playwright Dario Fo's piece reflects on Indian socio-political issues

Actors rehearse for Ek Aur Durghatna

In 1970, Italian playwright Dario Fo's play, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, premiered in Milan. A response to the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing and its aftermath, it sparked a conversation on political corruption, police brutality, class conflict and other socio-political crises that gripped Italy then. Cut to 2022, India and the world over, these conflicts still persist, rendering Fo's iconic piece relevant as ever. And today and tomorrow, a group of theatremakers from an acting school will stage a Hindi adaptation of the play - Ek Aur Durghatna.

Dario Fo. PIC COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Adapted by Amitabh Shrivastava, the play is directed by actor and educator Om Prakash, who founded Clay School for Actors in Malad. A National School of Drama graduate, he started the school to encourage the discipline of acting and provide a space for actors to explore themselves. The play will be staged by students of the school.

"Fo's style was different. His plays tend to break the fourth wall in theatre. The actors and characters connect with the audience and then go back into the act again - which drew me. I thought it would be ideal for my students in terms of training," he tells us.

Om Prakash

Prakash shares that the poet and playwright was associated with the political Left wing in Italy. "After the [Piazza Fontana] blasts, there were many custodial deaths; the police was accused of randomly rounding up culprits, something that happens even now in a lot of places," points out Prakash. The plot revolves around the real-life story of an anarchist who was held in connection to the blasts and who died in police custody. There had been a huge public outcry about the man dying due to harsh interrogation practices. "Fo, who had a bird's eye view of society, translated this social issue into a play, which exposes departmental corruption," explains Prakash.

Ek Aur Durghatna is designed as a slapstick comedy, which the director believes will help the audience connect to the play. The plot remains true to the original and is adapted in the context of Mumbai. "It revolves around a madman or a maniac who is under investigation at the crime branch headquarters for a slew of frauds, and gets them to admit the truth through a series of impersonations," the director reveals.

On: July 12, 8 pm and July 13, 5.30 pm and 8 pm
At: Creative Adda 191, Aaram Nagar, Part 2, Andheri West.
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 200 onwards