Catch a play that adapts Satyajit Ray's classic film about the Emergency to contemporary times, taking a dig at the current government
Arnesh Ghose's The Mirror Merchants will present a crisper, tightly-edited version of their play, Murgistaan that opened last year, this weekend. With the tag line 'Kachche Din Aa Gaye,' the play is a dark comedy about the current government, and is inspired by Satyajit Ray's 1980s classic, Hirak Rajar Deshe (The Land of The King of Diamonds). The acclaimed comedy for children is a scathing critique of the Emergency and constitutional monarchy.
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"The film is one of my favourites. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Emergency — one of India's darkest socio-political events in history. A different political party is in power at the Centre and carries different ideologies but things haven't changed much," says Ghose writer-director of the play. "It's one of those films that are shown to Bengali children as an introduction to cinema. At that point, it is just humour. When you watch it as a grown-up, you understand the layers."
Sanket Sharma plays the king and Aritro Rudraneil (left), his sidekick
The story centres on a fictional province called Murgistaan. The mad king of this kingdom, Maharaj Lazeezchand Galauti Tikka, spends his time travelling to other kingdoms, eating chicken and playing Kaju Katli Crush. His sidekick agrees to every plan of the King and is always hatching evil plots to keep the people under control. The people are of two kinds — Handis and Mussallams both constantly fighting with each other. The king can't stand disagreement. He bans random things like paneer, selfies and uses a brain-washing chair.
"It's my take on the running of the current government. People looking for humour will be entertained, and if they read between the lines, they will discover hidden layers. There's a power-packed climax too. The film was made two generations ago; we converted it into a theatre piece as I felt the mood and time is right," shares Ghose. The performance will take place in a black box theatre space and will call for audience interaction.
The sets are minimal. The experimental-style piece includes costumes and make-up inspired by Delhi's Raamleela. The look is also inspired by Ray's Taasher Deshe while the make-up has a clownish vibe. Eye make-up has been inspired by Classical Folk art like Kathakali. "We usually open a play on a big stage and then later modify it for smaller audiences. The idea is to introduce a new audience to theatre. We call it 'byte size' theatre. People who find theatre boring will enjoy this play. The original duration was 2.13 hours. We will now perform an edited one-and-a-half hour version," summarises Ghose.
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