Mumbai: Watch this provoking drama beautifully portraying the desire to belong to a place

A new play coming to Mumbai’s stages looks at the undercurrent of identity crisis in the youth and their determination to forge a new country for themselves

The idea that life is a journey is a common refrain put across by poets, philosophers, and writers, since aeons past. So, when we ask playwright and director Neel Chaudhuri about the title of his play, Rihla, on view at Harkat Studios in the upcoming week, it is apt that symbolises a journey. The Persian word, he explains, is not just about the journey itself, but also the literary account of that journey. “It was an appropriate title for this play, because the characters are on a quest that they document as they go along,” he says. 

In 2016, Chaudhuri came across playwright Andreas Flourakis’ acclaimed play, I Want A Country, in New York. While it was based on the Greek economic crisis and its after-effects on the lives of people at an individual and collective level, the script of the play, he says, was “open”. “It could be applied to any nation where the citizens were going through a struggle of identity and belonging,” he recalls. “It’s a play about nationhood, identity, and people seeking to find community.”

The play, which has a black-and-white ambience, features young people on the cusp of adulthood, drawing in their own aspirations for the future of their country and their lives

Rihla, which was first performed in 2019, is a collaboration between Chaudhuri and Aagaaz Theatre Trust, a Delhi-based theatre group operating out of Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin since 2009. The story thrives on the undercurrent of restlessness stemming through it, the desire to belong to a place where one is accepted and can be called one’s own. “There’s a lot of doubt at the centre of the play,” Chaudhuri muses. “It doesn’t preach one political point of view, one perspective, or one way of seeing, but is a tussle between the characters.” 

While Flourakis’ original play doesn’t specify the ages of the characters, Rihla is youth-centric. This came about partly due to the fact that the actors from Aagaaz were in their late teens and early twenties, and partly because it’s about “inheriting the world from a previous generation”. There is also a sense of disappointment expressed in the play. “Coming from different socio-economic backgrounds, their dreams and ideals are not often realised due to social, political, and cultural conditions in the country,” says Chaudhuri.  

Karan Suri Talwar, a partner at Harkat Studios, says that Harkat aims to work with small theatres and fringe actors, to give them a platform to express their dreams. “We’re thrilled to hear these young people’s voices and contemplated thoughts on the state of the country, something we hear so less among the cacophony of noise we are surrounded by.”

Neel Chaudhuri

Sanyukta Saha, the founder of Aagaaz, shares, “That’s the idea Aagaaz started with—to create an ecosystem that makes it possible for people from diverse backgrounds to become professional arts practitioners. This also came from a realisation that only privileged voices participate in narrativising society. As we work in Basti Hazrat Nizamuddin, a community that’s systemically denied access to services as well as participation in governance, we scaffold every part of repertory journey through support with scholarships, accessing physical and mental health services, finding legal aid, etc.”

Despite the story of thwarted dreams that it showcases, Rihla is still a take of hope. It is based on the resolve of the characters, which resonates through their actions and desires to bring about change. “What kind of country do you want to live in?” he asks. “That question can never have a singular response. We want to provoke the audience, whether they’re privileged and comfortable, or whether they’re struggling, to reflect on that.”

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