Girgit - A hard-hitting political satire that will make you laugh

Much in tune with Arthur Miller’s thoughts that ‘theatre is something that should raise the most important questions’, a satirical play titled Girgit was staged in Ahmedabad on World Theatre Day.The socio-political comedy on current trends adapted by Ramesh Upadhyay for the Indian audiences from Anton Chekhov’s The Chameleon has been directed by Atish Indrekar and keeps you on toes since the start.Even before you could look at the faces of the three main characters, they began to introduce themselves as main bda afsar (Ruchika), main mota afsar (Atish), and main chhota afsar (Jayendra) in typical dialect and body language of administrative officials leading to laughter.This fast-paced, high on energy, lively, realistic and interactive play tries to evoke almost all the navrasas in you as it touches upon issues of misuse of power, censorship, social media trends, vigilantism, moral policing and lots more.The story revolves around the conversation between the three administrative hierarchical levels on what to do with a dog (enacted by Krishnakant) who is considered a villain or spy by the officials while they search for its master.The highly entertaining performances by the whole cast makes you think about the way important decisions are casually taken.The dhol beats and its tempo acts as an underneath subtext to the whole play that gives a critical insight into how important ‘awards are given for political gains and the patriotic spirit of the masses used to do a wrong while proving it right’.The play does justice to its title and starts with a dance on lyrics like — ‘Chatpat rang badal lo bhai, chatpat rang badal lo bhai. Ek rang se kaam na chalta, chatpat rang badal lo bhai.’ The musical play is an apt example of how a serious issue can be conveyed in a light-hearted, fun and entertaining manner while keeping the attention of the audience intact. The fun-ride is worth your time.