To attempt a production based on the life of the German composer and pianist, Ludwig Van Beethoven, is clearly a brave effort. Beethoven's short, but incredibly eventful life has a little something for everyone in the audience - the boy juggling his duties towards a troubled family and his piano lessons; the young man often left stranded at the raw end of a love story; and, of course, the musical genius, who continues to inspire, and feature in contemporary creative works. In essence, Beethoven's life offers a lot to an audience but perhaps picking up one of the many books on his life would be more desirable than watching the play SOUNDS OF SILENCE.
Playwright Roshan Treasurywala has picked the most significant points of Beethoven's life to be crunched into a 2-odd hour play. A quick scan of the Wikipedia page dedicated to the composer does the same. Wikipedia, in fact, gives you information beyond Beethoven's family and love life as well. To make things worse, the language was more suited to contemporary times than the 18th century during which Beethoven lived. A young Beethoven telling his father to "get this straight" in the midst of an argument was only one of the many instances when the lines left one dumbfounded. The dialogue was also unnecessarily repetitive and the actors' discomfort seemed to suggest they hadn't spent much time with their lines in rehearsal.
The extremely ill-fitting costumes -- sloppy knee pants with socks instead of breeches and garish sequin-trimmed overcoats for the nobility -- hurt the eye. Beethoven's father's black denims stuffed into long white socks were a terrible distraction every time he stepped onto the stage. Sanjeev Dayal's costume just watered down a noteworthy performance. The stage was kept minimal and clean throughout the performance. Unfortunately, during a set change a plastic pomegranate came tumbling on the stage, becoming an obvious distraction in the next scene. If a fruit bowl was such a necessary on-stage property, surely real fruits could have been arranged!
To give credit where it's due, the scene where Beethoven (Sandeep Prabhakar) presents his ninth symphony is thoroughly stunning. A bare platform where the actor takes centre-stage, surrounded by graphics of his team of musicians is minimal and therein lies it's beauty. It's simply an amalgamation of the artist, his music and his musicians that touches a chord. At the end, when a near-deaf Beethoven has to be turned around to face his audience and receive the applause, the entire auditorium clapped along in appreciation.
Clearly, Beethoven's life, which director Poonam Sareen wishes to portray, has a lot of dramatic potential and will draw in an audience for all that it has to offer. Beethoven, after all, was the quintessential underdog in the world of Western Classical Music. His story is worthy of an evening. But hopefully the team behind this play will spend a lot of time sprucing it up before its next outing.
*Aditi Sharma enjoys watching theatre and writing about it.
