Plays are synonymous with lights, music and setting. However, the play-reading session, staged at the Max Mueller Bhavan, recently was very different.
Stalowa Wola, written by Christopher Kloeble and translated by Saskya Jain, was showcased in a different style by the actors of Jagriti Theatre — Jagadish Raja, Vivek Madan, Rebecca Spurgeon — and the two writers.
The session began with the screening of a photo film made by Gusztav Hamos.
The work was largely based on invisible cities.
“I want to make Bangalore visible and if anyone can tell me where I can find old post cards of the City, I can start right away. If I feature Bangalore, I will probably concentrate on the traffic and the honking. The other day when I was crossing the road, I saw how people here break rules without causing any accidents,” says Gustav. His work showcased cities like Berlin among others.
It was then time for the play reading. “This play has never been presented in public and we are going to perform only excerpts. The name of the play is Stalowa Wola and we are just going to read a few scenes from the play,” explains Christopher.
Christopher, who had written it, was the narrator while the others played various characters.
This was also the curtain-raiser to the ‘Lekhana Literary Festival’.
The plot was based on a few characters, like Carl and Susan, a bickering married couple. Carl, who lost his wife Susan in a car crash, is depressed.
It seems as if Carl’s dead wife is guiding him to go to Poland and on the way, he meets interesting characters, some friendly, some rude.
All these characters seem to share some of their unique experiences.
On the way to Poland, he stops over and parks his car on land owned by a dreaded farmer called Herr Obermuller, played by Jagadish Raja. Satirical, humorous and sensitive, the play was a mixed bag of many emotions put together in a brilliant style.
While Carl was played by Vivek Madan, Susan was portrayed by Saska Jain. Anakha, who was there at the event, found the play quite interesting. “I will look forward to the entire play being staged soon. It seems interesting. The narrative is strong and the subject chosen is also quite different,” she adds.