A wacky play on a woman’s post-divorce journey

Actress, singer, painter, writer – Suchitra Krishnamoorthi has donned many hats, and on Friday, she presented for the first time on Delhi’s stage, her play 'Drama Queen'. It’s a memoir, albeit fictionalised. The actress plays herself, Such, as her friends and family call her, and the play focuses on the life of a woman – a single mother – five years after she has had a divorce. Suchitra was married to filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and the couple split in 2007 after nearly eight years of marriage.

On the stage, the audience only saw Suchitra, as there were no other actors apart from her. But, there were quite a lot of characters who, although were not a part of the stage, but were present throughout the play in the form of voice overs. They included her mother, her shrink, and friends and acquaintances from the

Bollywood

industry, among others. There were also voice clips of directors Nagesh Kukunoor and Ken Gosh, who appeared as themselves in the play. The play’s director,

Inaayat Ali Sami

, lent his voice to couple of characters, who appeared as Suchitra’s friends.

The play, which featured a few songs sung by Suchitra live on stage, showed the actress in that stage of her life, where she is often suffering from pangs of loneliness post divorce, and thinks that she wants to marry again. At one point, she even exclaimed that she wanted to get married just for sex. There were humourous instances in the play when she asked her ‘directors’ Ramgopal Verma, Karan Johar, and Nagesh Kukunoor, on separate occasions, if they would want to marry her.

(BCCL/Lokesh Kashyap)

Throughout the play, there was a constant presence of her mother, who was critical of her choices and was always trying to knock some sense into her, reminding her of propriety and acceptable social norms, and at the same time, providing her with the mental support when she needed it the most. The mother-daughter interaction formed the crux of the play, around which the narrative revolves. The play ended on a note that seemed to indicate that the protagonist is moving on in life, overcoming the difficult phase, as she once again picked up one of her passions, painting. It was shown that she was busy with an art exhibition. Suchitra and Shekhar Kapur’s daughter, Kaveri’s name was mentioned many times in the play as is Shekhar’s, but there were no voice-overs for these characters.

Sanchita Mukherjee, a banker who was in the audience, said, "I really enjoyed the play, especially the mother-daughter interlude. Overall, the play was funny, dark and enjoyable." Her friend, Gauri, a homemaker, added, "I was initially sceptical about it being a monologue, as there is just one actor on stage, but there was never a dull moment in this play."

The audience during the play (BCCL/Lokesh Kashyap)

Rishabh Kumar, a college student, said, "It took me an hour to reach the venue today from GK, on regular days it would hardly take half an hour. But it was worth it. I loved the play. It’s wacky and there were so many different shades to Suchitra’s character – a lonely, talented, sad, yet strong woman, trying to find her feet in the world."

When we caught up with Suchitra after the play, the actress said that she loved presenting her act in Delhi. "It was great performing in Delhi. You have got such an evolved theatre culture, that I was worried ki koi hasega toh nahi mujhpe. You know, you always wonder how the audience is going to react, but I think they liked the play. They were laughing at very subtle jokes, little nuances," said the actress.

Inaayat Ali Sami, the play’s director (BCCL/Lokesh Kashyap)

And how much of this is fact and how much is fiction? "It is a lot of exaggerated fact," Suchitra said, adding, "For example, the incidents with Karan and Ramu, they did happen, but they were not serious; they were just jokes among friends. I am lucky that they allowed me to use their names and that they have been so sporting about it. In short, this is fictionalised fact." And wasn’t she worried that people might judge her, as she was portraying a character, who often seemed fragile and even desperate at times? "As my friends back in Mumbai have told me, people like the irreverence of it all. Many people have told me that I have put on stage what they think about, but will never say out aloud. So as long as people are laughing with me, and not at me, I am okay with it."