JOIN USOf love, lust and greed...
Man is as good as destroyed when greed, lust, envy and hatred seep into the mind. What happens when materialism consumes a human being? Is greed indispensable for any man? When the stage provides the crucible to dissect these issues, it is sure to be a cathartic drama at its best.
Tainted Blood, to be staged by Catharsis, an amateur theatre group from the National Law School of India University, bills to be just that.
This dance-drama is woven around a traditional family of six people. An extreme situation where a dysfunctional family falls prey to its members' sins and destroys their lives. At the heart of all their misery is their desperate quest for love.
Written and conceptualised by Meghna Srinivas, a III year student of NLSIU, Tainted Blood is a mix of poetry, prose and dance. It is a tragedy couched in a thriller. The family's emotions are portrayed through a Kathak dancer.
Meghna is no newcomer to the world of theatre, she has participated at several school and college plays since the age of 11 years. Meghna confesses that by and large this play has been the best she has written and performed thus far.
“A family is ruined when greed, lust and envy take over. The dancer narrates the various emotions of happiness, love and anger through her powerful expressions. I have attempted to infuse reality into the play. This is what happens in reality when man runs after money. You’d never be too happy,” Meghna told Metrolife.
The play is an amalgamation of tabla beats, kathak feats, prose and deep, dark and embittered emotions. How a family yearns for love and how the family is destroyed because of mindless gambling by their son... all of this is depicted and packaged in the most dramatic way in the play. Meghna has composed the music herself. She has even written poetry, a hobby that she picked up as a child.
“The music has drawn its inspiration from Zakir Husain and Anuska Shankar.
It’s Hindustani music at its best. I have jotted down three poems, especially for the play. The poems have been pegged on relationships and various emotions such
as anger, happiness and pain,” explains Meghna. The play is a call to people not to be mute spectators but to be proactive in ushering positive changes in society.
The cast comprises Atul Agarwal, Ruth Anna Paul, Surabhi Shukla, Meghna Srinivas, Protiti Roy, Rajbhushan Shinde, Deepika Kinhal and Ramya Shankar.
Tainted Blood will be staged at Alliance Francaise on April 30 at 7.15 pm. It is an 80-minute performance with no break.