Monday, 2 September 2019

Night at the Theatre- Einstein


I do not claim to be any authority whatsoever on the matter of drama, but simply a passionate victim that has been moved to scribble a few words on paper.

It’d been a while since I’d been to the theatre; for ‘Netflix and Chill’ had been the norm for a while now. But gladly, things haven’t changed :) A glance towards the stage portkey-ed me to the time I learned to respect it with the beloved Workshop Players in Sri Lanka. The sanctity of the stage they called it; and I remember discovering its personality. An elegant and steadfast father who saw us fall and cry, laugh and love; humbly elevating us to moments in the spotlight.

The announcements were brief, the crowd took their seats and anticipation was in the air. It was mind blowing what I felt in that moment of utter silence. Not a sigh nor a sneeze, nor a cry or a cough. At this point I must applaud the audience. There are a few things people agree on these days and I can’t be more thankful that decorum in the theatre was one of them. There are few moments in life that you’ll never forget because it made you feel something, a sort of physiological high if you will; and this was one of them.

A beautiful rendition of Eine Kleine Nacht Musik proceeded the silence played on guitars which not only brought another set of wholesome memories but was the perfect overture for a unique play.
The spotlight panned across the stage and gracefully settled itself onto Naseeruddin Shah who as it happened become the embodiment of Einstein who had been lying on the floor of the apartment the entire time. Without any ado, he swept the room with a flawless German accent as he starts recounting anecdotes from his early life; all the while subtlety letting on the sloppiness, the arthritis and the forgetfulness of the great man.

Image result for naseeruddin shah einstein

He flirted and charmed the crowd, bringing us to jolts of laughter with the kind of humour the world had forgotten. He became a huggable grandpa we all wanted as he entrapped us all in his tiny apartment and even invited a couple of audience members onto stage to explain a theory of physics. The whimsical lines written by Gabriel Emmanuel (A German Jew) brought out the part of science we all liked as a child; the curiosity, the discovery, the magic. It was all so enthralling, we were on the edge of our seats; and mind you it was one- man show! With his words and emotions, he conducted us to the tune of Einstein’s life, loves, regrets; as well as his simplicities and habits.

The lighting and music did excellently to make subtle on point changes to the tone of the narration; the epitome of which lead to a terrific and powerful shot of Einstein’s shadow cast on the mushroom cloud of 1945.

To me, it has reignited a thankfulness for genuine Drama in India, and the scope of extending its heavily needed presence into the fabric of modern Indian culture. After all we’re forced to think what it means to be an Indian. “Politics is harder to understand than physics”- declared the play. Let it not live on for the sake of tradition but to carry forward the passion of art and storytelling into the generations to come.

It’s all very well to witness a technologically growing society with a corresponding growth in BMI; but the reason why voices of singers and expression of actors will always move us is because they are imperfect. And being imperfect is to be human, bringing us together like a gravitational field. .

2 comments:

  1. A thoughtful and well written piece Dr.Williams

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeric! Well done, boss. Thanks for sharing. :)

    ReplyDelete