Playwright Datta Patil's TO RAJHANS EK, directed by Sachin Shinde, presents how a man's mental health is burdened by societal expectations in a rural world. The play is not didactic and does not intend to force the audience to be aware of the importance of mental health. Rather, it brings to the surface the problematic situation of dilapidating mental health of a common rural man that is usually put under the carpet. This way, the play leaves the audience to ponder over the protagonist's thoughts as he opens up his fears, desires, and musings in front of the audience the moment he opens up his diary. Consequently, the audience becomes the confidant of this man by listening to his narratives about life, love, and dreams.
The title lends the motif of the bird to the characters in the story. Other characters are regular birds who have learned how to adjust to life in the cage, but the protagonist makes an attempt to distinguish himself from others, as the swan does. He does this through poetry and his aspirations. It's as if he gets on the wings of poetry and aims to fly into his own world of thoughts, which is not dictated by the societal expectations, boundations, and norms of success. This is where the Rajhans of the play comes alive. The only issue is that he is the rajhans in the world of his mind. In the outer world of reality, he is just another farmer in a poor family trapped in the hustle of making ends meet. In the last scene, he unties the ropes attached to the chair, the bench, and the backstage wings, which had held the whole stage together. When he unties the ropes, he metaphorically unties the forces that were pulling him down. Finally, he is free to take his unrestricted flight. However, this flight comes with its own cost, as by the end, he has gone so deep in his mental health issues that he has almost lost his sense of self. The audience gets lost in the story of this man the same way he gets lost in his own tales of the mind.
The play has a minimalist set design that includes a bench and a chair. Nonetheless, the limited stage property does not limit the execution of the play, as the whole world of the protagonist is encapsulated in these two objects merely. The protagonist, who belongs to a farmer family, writes poetry, and whenever he is narrating from his diary, he sits on the chair. Symbolically, the chair is the domain of poetry and presents an escape from the worldly issues of society. On the contrary, the scenes depicting the flashbacks mostly take place around the bench. For instance, when he visits a girl's house for prospects of marriage, both of them are seated on the bench, and in another scene, the cow's rope, too, is tied to this bench. Hence, this makes the bench the domain of life, of the responsibilities that come with it, and of the everyday routine of the family. A rope is tied across the chair and the bench that forms the link between the different elements of the world that the story is set in and the protagonist's world of thoughts.
The prowess of the actors was clearly evident throughout the play. Another domain of expertise was seen through the technical elements of the play. The light, use of shadows, and sound used in the play were close to perfection. This meant that the actors were not acting in isolation in their live performances, but that there was a seamless synchronization between the live actors and the technical elements- lights and sounds. All the elements of acting, lights, and sounds come together to create a unity of emotions, and what is theatre, if not a unity? Since theatre is a blend of all art forms, this unity of elements is crucial to reach. It is because of this unity of all elements on stage, that the play succeeds in keeping the audience hooked. For instance, the regular bench is presented as a motorcycle in a later scene, and this illusion is upheld with the use of blinking lights and the background sound of a bike.
The word 'drama', with its Greek origin, carries the meaning 'to do/act', and any piece of theatre is expected to show 'doing' or actions. The play TO RAJHANS EK falls short in terms of justifying 'drama' when the dramatic execution of the script is presented. The monologues and dialogues are no doubt rich in expression, but the play was majorly verbal. This gave the play a physically static nature. To justify the literal meaning of the word 'drama', the actions and movements of the performers with respect to the stage, should have been improved. At the micro and individual level, the actors have shown brilliant performances in terms of both Aangik Abhinay (for gestures) and Vaachik Abhinay (for speech). However, at the macro level, the overall images of the scenes could have been more gripping if creative movements were increased in the scenes. This way, a semblance would have been established between the individual actor's intriguing gestures and the larger image of the play.
Having said that, the audience gets a psychological peek into the life of a man in a rural setting, which is aptly mirrored by the simple and minimalist stage design, yet heavy and deeply moving thoughts of the characters. All of this makes TO RAJHANS EK worth watching.
Tanya Jaluthria is a literature and theatre enthusiast with a keen interest in Digital Theatre.
