Godot is not coming... Manav Kaul's new play explores the possibility of no longer waiting for her either.
The play stars seven characters, with one woman asking why can't Godot be a woman. Having toyed with the idea for years, Manav Kaul started penning Giving up on Godot in November, completing the final edits in January. Pics/Shadab Khan
For a few years now, Manav Kaul says he has been tweeting "Giving up on Godot". "The idea came because of the world we are in right now. Not just in India, but everywhere… Growing up, we thought that when the new generation comes in, it will be interesting, and that the world will be a better place. But what's happened in 2020 is that we seem to be moving backwards. We are not learning from history."
Caught in a rut like a hamster in a wheel, Kaul feels that we seem to be waiting for someone to come and resolve our conflicts. The elusive Godot. "And, while we wait for Godot to arrive, we are blaming each other for everything that transpires. What then, if we just give up on Godot?" Kaul asks this question rhetorically, perhaps. But, it's also an idea that he's been toying with for long enough to turn into a play.
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The actor, playwright and theatre director, whose last play was Chuhal, a romantic comedy in 2017, moves on to the absurdist-existential dilemma with this one.
On the seminal play by Samuel Beckett, written in 1948—which sees Vladimir and Estragon waiting for someone named Godot, as they engage in conversation and encounter other characters—Kaul says, he first encountered it on stage during a production by veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah. "Mesmerised, I watched it thrice. Then I have seen a college version. But I have read the text several times. I prefer that as it gives me an idea of what the playwright is trying to say. And I am fascinated by Beckett. His writing style, from minimal to nothing, his word-play and using less words for so much meaning." When he first watched Godot, Kaul says his life was waiting for a miracle. "I was living hand to mouth in a chawl and felt that the play spoke to me. It was written for me."
Kaul's Giving up on Godot then is a reflection of his own admiration for the text, voted one of the best plays of the 20th century. The play has seven characters—extremists, liberals, fence-sitters with back stories, ranging from a girl who wants to make a personal sky for everyone and another, who hopes to grow wings and fly away when she hits the age of 35. Kaul says he started penning the piece in November last year during a break in the mountains even as he continued to discuss the idea with his associate director Gurleen Judge.
By the end of January, the text was ready and actors were cast in the roles. The play, which is 75 minutes, stars Shivani Tansale, Ajitesh Gupta, Kailash Kumar, Ashish Mishra, Durgesh Kumar, Monisha Rai Richa Rai and Abhijeet Singh. "We are crossing boundaries of space and time. There's no specific area in which the events occur or timelines. And there's no poetry, soliloquies. Just short lines to each character. The idea is to show that each character is saying nearly the same thing. We are not different, but we are not accepting it."
On why Godot remains relevant to this day, Kaul says that's what great writers do. They reflect something so universal that it continues to reflect on current events. "But, that's also the tragedy of our times that we haven't improved upon our existence."
Speaking of his own play, Park, in which three men in a park fight for space on a bench, Kaul says it was written in 2006. But even now when it's staged, he's asked if it's a recent work. "It's more relevant now than ever, I wish it wasn't. I want it to be outdated."
When: March 17-20, 7 PM and 9 PM
Where: Prithvi Theatre, Juhu
Entry: Rs 300
Call: 26149546
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