Mahesh Dattani’s new play weaves together queer histories across civilisations

Playwright Mahesh Dattani, recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award (1998), has played a pivotal relation successful shaping modern theatre successful India. Since his debut with the 1988 satirical play, Where There’s A Will, helium has boldly explored themes specified arsenic spiritual fanaticism, homosexuality, kid maltreatment and sex bias. His works see Dance Like A Man, Tara, On a Muggy Night successful Mumbai and Gauhar.

Mahesh has present teamed up with Brooklyn-based manager Jonathan Taikina Taylor connected the queer epic The Monk & The Warrior, to beryllium staged astatine Mumbai’s Experimental Theatre from April 2 to 5. Featuring an planetary cast, the play begins with a “historically-accurate brushwood betwixt Alexander the Great and a Buddhist monk, which explodes into a emotion communicative that traverses culture, abstraction and time, weaving unneurotic queer histories crossed centuries and civilisations. 

“Though the inspiration comes from history, I inactive see this play to beryllium modern arsenic the contented is inactive relevant. It talks astir who we take arsenic our heroes. Often, the conqueror is seen arsenic a hero, portion the 1 choosing non-violence is perceived arsenic a passive personality,” says Mahesh.

The thought for the play, helium adds, came from Jonathan. “I got to cognize Jonathan done a friend, Akshay Gandhi, who had studied with him successful New York. I besides saw his accumulation connected Helen of Troy successful New York and invited him to bash a workshop, portion helium was successful India. We kept successful touch, and 1 day, helium sent maine a message requesting maine to constitute this play.”

Jonathan, the creator manager of The SuperGeographics, says helium archetypal thought of The Monk & The Warrior during a sojourn to Nepal and India successful 2019. “When I came to Bengaluru, I met radical from the queer community. I thought I’d enactment connected a play that looked astatine however queerness tin beryllium a counterpoint to the assemblage mindset. Colonisation is each astir going into a assemblage and dictating however radical should be. Queerness, successful contrast, is astir being wrong a assemblage and allowing them to beryllium themselves.”

Jonathan recalls speechmaking a communicative astir Alexander, said to beryllium a celebrated Western queer, gathering a radical of monks upon entering India. “His narration with a peculiar monk seemed to transportation a romanticist angle. One sought to conquer the satellite portion the different longed for nothing.”

Through this play, Jonathan feels cultures tin converge to uplift the voices and stories of radical seldom heard. Mahesh shares, “For me, a queer is immoderate idiosyncratic who creates his/her ain strategy of surviving and loving. There’s a misconception that queer stories are a Western concept, but successful India, we person had specified narratives successful the Upapuranas, Upakathas and people tales.”

On his attack to his subjects, Mahesh says, helium begins with research. “However, the probe is conscionable an inspiration, due to the fact that arsenic a fabrication writer, I thin into my imaginativeness to archer stories. While I effort to usage documented and authentic sources, it’s besides bully to determination beyond them arsenic 1 risks ending up with a dry, factual story.”

Mahesh has besides extensively worked with theatre personalities specified arsenic Alyque Padamsee and Lilette Dubey. “As an advertizing professional, Alyque believed 1 is ultimately working for the audience. He knew however to pass effectively. I met Lilette later, and she excessively comprehended what resonated with the assemblage and what does not. Initially, I was self-indulgent, and reluctant to compromise. But arsenic 1 grows, 1 learns that theatre works champion arsenic a collaboration, and the collaboration continues with your audience.”

Mahesh, who believes successful the value of feedback, says: “The archetypal clip we staged Gauhar, some LiIlette and I realised that scriptwise, it was each implicit the place. So I made immoderate edits, allowing the euphony to instrumentality over, arsenic the quality demanded it. With Dance Like A Goddess, which is simply a sequel to Dance Like A Man, I utilized a ceremonial feedback process which I learnt from a European theatre institution called Das. In different plays, I person utilized informal feedback methods.” 

About The Monk & The Warrior, Mahesh shares though his earlier play On A Muggy Night successful Mumbai was besides astir queer love, the 2 are precise different. The erstwhile is much an interpersonal drama; portion this 1 relies connected poesy with the stories becoming metaphors for the journey.”

Among his plays, Dance Like A Man remains 1 of his astir palmy work; it was adapted to the surface by Pamela Rooks and went connected to triumph a National Award. Mahesh wrote it to represent his acquisition arsenic an aspiring antheral Bharatanatyam dancer, inspired by his gurus. In 2004, helium wrote and directed the movie Morning Raga, a communicative astir however euphony unites antithetic worlds. Asked whether helium besides thinks from a cinematic position portion writing, Mahesh responds: “I judge that a play written with a movie successful caput is alternatively weak. I hold that immoderate of my subjects person made bully films, but then, astir haven’t. Theatre has its ain charm, and requires a quality interaction that exertion does not provide,” says Mahesh.