I loved translating ‘Dance Like a Man’: Anand Rao

The Bengaluru-born playwright talks to Stanley Carvalho about writing the Kannada version of Mahesh Dattani’s popular play

A treat awaits Kannada theatre lovers in Bengaluru when ‘Nali Purushananthe’, the Kannada version of Mahesh Dattani’s play Dance Like a Man opens on September 24. US-based but Bengaluru-born and raised Anand Rao, who has translated Mahesh Dattani’s seminal work from English into Kannada, is directing the play.

Dance Like a Man explores the life of a budding male dancer and how he loses his career, passion, dreams and purpose in life to societal notions of gender.

The English play, over the last three decades, has completed over 600 shows worldwide, winning acclaim from critics and audiences alike.

Rao’s earlier play A Muslim in the Midst, set in Bengaluru three days after the 9/11 terrorist attack, made its debut in New York in 2017 followed by shows in Bengaluru.

Excerpts from an interview with the playwright and actor:

What got you to translate Dance Like a Man into Kannada?

During the staging of the play in New Jersey in 2021, Mahesh, who was present, expressed dismay that it wasn’t translated and asked me to do it. I began right away and in a month, I completed translating the 75-page play.

How challenging was the job?

Translation was not a challenge; it was an absolute pleasure. It is an incredible, dialogue-heavy play that hooks you.

Did you stick to the original or took any liberties to modify some lines/parts?

I have mostly stuck to the script, but wherever necessary, I have brought in the local flavour. I don’t do theatre for the love of language. I practice language for the love of theatre.

What was Dattani’s reaction to the Kannada translation?

He cannot read Kannada. He told me to go ahead and stage the play. When I did a reading of the play with my theatre friends, the feedback was positive. I assembled a good bunch of actors.

It has been over 30 years since the play was written. How relevant is it now given that perceptions about masculinity and patriarchal norms have seen some changes?

The awareness has increased but I don’t think the change is here yet; perhaps, there is a small, two per cent change. By and large, perceptions haven’t changed and on the central theme of the play, like the gender bias about what a man should do or not, there hasn’t been much of a change. For all the developments that have taken place, we have also regressed in many ways, our ability to take satire, for instance.

Have any of the English productions of the play impressed you?

Mahesh, being a playwright and director has done most of the productions and I’ve seen Lillete Dubey’s production. There are many similarities which leads me to believe that Mahesh has set a standard that other directors have followed.

I want to do my own directing without parroting anyone, bringing in my own creativity and originality.

Tell us about your play ‘Muslim in the Midst’.

I wrote it in 2016 and it premiered in New York. It had a successful run and was produced every year between 2016 and 2019. It was staged in Bengaluru at six different theatres with sell-out shows.

The story happens three days after the 9/11 terrorist attack when the media was full of pro and anti-Muslim rhetoric. It is about a Hindu and a Muslim couple who find themselves in an uncomfortable tight spot, mostly by their own doing when a normal conversation takes an ugly turn. But despite the differences, they find a common ground. It is less about religion and more about human nature and our predisposition towards class, affiliations, and preconceived notions of people. It is a reflection of what we are as humans.

Your thoughts on contemporary Kannada theatre in Bengaluru.

Things haven’t changed much since I moved to the US in 2007. Given the talent, there’s nothing like professional Kannada theatre and actors look to theatre as a bridge to enter television or films because that’s where the money is.

What else are you working on?

I have written a television series called Vernacular based on the 1931 Press Act. It is about press freedom and how the British stifled it. I am talking to producers. I am also working on a musical on Panchatantra.