27th Nov 2011
The play Preth
I like plays too a lot, sometimes more than movies. That’s simply because of the difficulty in acting; you can’t edit or replay or fudge any part! So, plays are really challenging, the most for actors, because the memory to deliver dialogues is not a faculty everyone is gifted with.
So, today, instead of my Metro Big routine, or a DVD at home, after an elaborate shower, I made it just in time for the Hindi play Preth, at the Centre stage Play Fest at the NCPA, and I loved it. Aside from the fact that the crowd is mostly pesky and irritating (at most times), because they act over familiar and creepy; the play, direction, sound effects, and acting are great. On the crowd, well, it happens many times, people think it’s their privilege to pile on, but the truth is that I can’t determine anybody by name or face, but they all act as if they know me, well, that might be true, but is of no use to me!!
So, the play challenges the ancient idea of a man being all powerful and great. The king of our story is such a man, but just as all men, he too is corrupt, and the junta is even more clever. They learn from the king to cook up stories, get rid of the king, and get rid of the innocent ‘Preth’ too.
The moral of the story is that most of the events in public life are very imaginary, and it is really hard to tell the difference from reality and rumor. So, the play revolves around rumor, fear, power, and the perception of power by mere mortals or ordinary citizens. The play begins on a grandiose scale, wherein the public goes on and on about how great their king is. But the king’s cleverness and dishonesty come to the fore when he sends an ordinary but brave man to the gallows because he challenges his authority.
Ahla, the local dreamy bum is witness to the chilling crime. The king gets to know of Ahla’s truth, arrests him, and sends him to the gallows, leaving behind a doting wife, and a hapless son. The criminal then runs away from prison and is made out to die. He is also christened a ghost, or ‘preth’ by the king who doesn’t want him alive as he has seen him kill an innocent civilian. The king’s guards then search for the ‘preth’, who is so harassed and tortured that he believes himself to be a real ghost. So reality fudges with fiction, as the characters go after the truth.
Once the aam junta realizes that their king is corrupt, they kill him, summon the preth, and burn him to ashes, as no one, not even his wife wants him back or believes the truth. Kingdoms or fiefdoms are a thing of the past, but the truth remains that institutions that have power, even if they are not a single person, have the ability to create and destroy nations and their citizens. The story is upbeat, the music is great, and though the language appears a bit rural, it is a winsome story told.
No surprise then that NCPA has some of the best talent in acting, scripts, and music. An evening well spent calls for another celebration, a masala dosa, crisp, dry, and oh, so sinful!!