Playing tough
The Hindu : After three decades in the performing arts, the glint in Naseeruddin Shah’s eyes has not faded from his silvery woolly-haired bearded face. With legs stretched out, this NSD and FTII alumnus leans back against a hard chair in the green room ofRanga Shankara. He is in a loose buttoned down off-white kurta. He has a bandage around his neck with some fake blood smeared on it. The first performance of Jean Anouilh’s adaptation of Sophocles’ political drama “Antigone” is just over at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2007.
It is the closing play of the festival and Ranga Shankara is teeming with theatre enthusiasts, celebrities and those who’d just come to catch a glimpse of the stalwart cast and simper for autographs. Naseeruddin curtly nods at beaming, eager fans who push papers under his nose, and he briskly signs heartfelt wishes for them.
“The crowd comes as no surprise. Bangalore has always been known for its play-lovers and theatre-productions. And all kinds of people come to watch them— from literature buffs to theatre-goers. I have been coming here since 1970 as a student of NSD and have performed various plays at Ravindra Kalakshetra.” He pauses and asks: “Is it still there?”
Talking about Ranga Shankara, he says, “It is a small theatre, just like the theatre where we first performed ‘Antigone’ at the National Centre for Performing Arts.”
Naseeruddin’s theatre group, Motley, was created along with theatre personalities Benjamin Gilani and Tom Alter 30 years ago. “‘Dear Liar’, stories in Hindustani by (Munshi) Premchand, Harishankar Parsai, Ismat Chughtai, Saadat Hasan Manto and Kahlil Gibran’s ‘Prophet’ now ‘Antigone’ are some of the plays we keep performing.” Benjamin Gilani chips in: “Hasn’t it been 16 years since you and Ratna (Pathak Shah) have been performing ‘Dear Liar’?” Naseeruddin nods.
“Antigone” was written in 1942 by Jean Anouilh “to represent the struggle of the French Resistance Movement against…More
