The humour in being terminally ill

Mahesh Dattani and Lilette Dubey's new play is a farce where terminally-ill inmates get entangled in complicated love affairs while awaiting their departure

When a play written by an inmate who died of cancer at the Jeevan Jyoti hospice, is chosen and performed by other survivors, they begin to realise that the characters bear more than a few similarities to their own lives.

Brief Candle, a play-within-a-play written by Mahesh Dattani and directed by Lillete Dubey, is about love and loss. "The text deals with losing something you value.

Only in that moment of loss do you realise the true worth of what is lost," says Dattani, who drew insight from his own grief at having lost his mother. Although the play is not autobiographical, he says he gained an understanding during the eight months he spent with her as care-giver.

Despite the sombre tone, the play that sees its second Mumbai performance this weekend, is neither macabre nor aims at evoking sympathy from audiences. "I have met people who are terminally ill and realised they often look at the positive side of life. The play attempts to do the same. It is a farce, and pretty humorous in parts," he says.

While a love story unfolds through the play, it focuses on the lives of the inmates and a doctor at Jeevan Jyoti. The dead writer exists in the memory of his fellow inmates, and appears through the play.

Actor Zafar Karachiwala, who plays the dead playwright, says, "This is a difficult piece to digest. But we received a great response to our first show. We were guided by Lillete, and she pushed the performance in a direction that maintains equilibrium between pain and joy."

The focus, he says, is to keep your eyes set on the light at the end of the tunnel. "The one thing the audience can relate to is the hope that the performance invokes." The work also deals with relationships, societal and work pressures and was put up in a whirlwind four weeks. The 85-minute performance sees the actors singing, with Zafar playing the guitar.u00a0

On:u00a0July 19 at St. Andrews Auditorium, Bandra (W) at 7.30 pm. Also on August 2 at Sophia Bhabha Hall, Breach Candy at 7.30 pm. Tickets available at the venue and Rhythm House.
Call: 23532380.
Online booking: www.bookmyshow.com.
Home delivery: 39895050. On August 9 atu00a0 St. Andrews, August 22 at Tata Theatre, NCPA