Bold now beautiful for theatre buffs

INDORE: With scenes that depict sexual content, child abuse, unconstitutional language, violence or alcohol consumption on stage, theatre in the city is growing bolder by the day, making plays exclusively for mature audiences.
While it’s been a long time that theatre groups in larger cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Kolkata have already taken this route, Indore’s theatre culture is being popularised only by youngsters ready to experiment with theatre.While some of these plays have been appreciated by most people, some have received brickbats with the bouquets for the depiction of bold content.
One play which was only appreciated for its aesthetic representation of sensitive scenes was ‘Ant Hazir Ho’. It also received national acclaim at theatre festivals and competitions.
Based on child abuse, the play was produced by city-based theatre group Anvaratt. “The play shows a father sexually abusing a child which was depicted symbolically by using a doll on stage. The play received positive response who were touched by the performance and the theme,” Nitesh Upadhyay, director of the play said.
Some plays which have been staged in the city with bold themes are ‘Jab Sheher Humara Sota Hai’, ‘Sakharam Binder’ and ‘Adhuri Aurat’.
‘Suraj Ki Akhiri Kiran Se Suraj Ki Pehli Kiran Tak’ was another play with a bold theme staged in the city that was both criticized and appreciated. The play highlighted the sexual desires of a queen whose husband was impotent and she was given an opportunity to spend one night with a man of her choice to conceive an heir for the kingdom.
Urmi Sharma, who played the the queen, said the play was only appreciated by broad-minded people. “After the play I received offers to play sleazy roles in short films. However, there are also many viewers, like my husband, who appreciated my acting skills. That role has been a memorable one as people still remember me as the queen,” Sharma added.
Another play which was criticized for its bold approach was ‘Ehsas’ in which actors used real alcohol on stage and its smell reached the audience in the first few rows.
“There were many who did not appreciate the move, but the idea was to present reality on stage. In another play, a cigarette was used on stage. I refrained from lighting it, fearing people might get offended,” Antim Markandey, another theatre artist from the city, said.