Manjula Padmanabhan’s sensitive and much acclaimed play Lights Out was staged by Players Enthusiastic Forum at Rabindra Bhawan, Guwahati on July 10 and 12, 2009.

Directed by Giyasuddin Ahmed, the play deals intensely with domestic abuse inflicted on women and the way it upsets the complacent equilibrium in the neighbourhood. Moreover, as the play proceeded, we could hear the faint heart-rending screams of a woman being gangraped, who is never seen in the play. However, it could be felt that she was in obvious pain. This destroys the fabric of domesticity of a middle-class couple, Bhaskar and Leela – portrayed by Deba Choudhury and Tondra Borbora respectively, divided in their response to her anguish – the communal apathy in relation to a gang rape.

Set in suburban Mumbai, Bhaskar and Leela, along with a couple of their friends – Mohan Ram, played by Ranjeev Lal Barua, Naina, played by Tina Masood, Surinder, Naina’s fiery husband, played by Manash K Das, are witnesses to a gangrape taking place in the neighbouring compound. During the course of the play, Leena claims that this was a regular occurrence and that residents of that area had to adjust their daily schedules around these gruesome open-air ‘performances’. Leela and Naina are anguished by the cries for help, but the men – Bhaskar and Mohan, quieten their conscience by arguing that the victims are, after all, only prostitutes, not ‘decent’ women. The couple in discussion also has a housekeeper Frieda, portrayed by Angana Choudhury – who only observes the entire situation, apart from laying the table at times. She, I believe, is the only character in the play, who, despite having a silent role, lived up to her character and showed promise.

Although neither the script nor the production was well-executed, theatre doesn’t, in the end, diminish the power of a courageous woman’s inspiring story. Although the play should have been more provocative and soul-stirring, it sailed in a totally footloose and fancy-free manner. There was no balance seen within the cast itself, which crippled the entire production, with frankly no help from the music section. There was immense scope for Rohan Das as the music director to enhance the production. Besides, from the direction point of view, Ahmed was a disaster.

Moreover, it’s a far more serious subject to be handled in such a callous manner, especially in today’s India – where every day the headlines scream and unleash a new horror of women being raped. For the record, if one goes by the July 6, 2009 issue of the India Today, it claims, “At over 20,000 rapes a year, India is one of the most unsafe countries for women.” More shocking is that “over 50 per cent of the women raped are between 18 and 30.” Just because one finds it difficult to hold the grip of the play, cheap comedy could never be a solution. Moreover, the over the top buffoonery by veteran actor Deba Choudhury, while portraying Bhaskar, was ridiculous. He could have put in a bit more thought into the character before taking it forward, being the capable actor that he is. Tondra Borbora, on the other hand, repeated her actions and was looking very rigid on stage. With a balanced act she had the scope to improve more upon her character, to sustain the element of fear and anguish in her which was so very critical in the play.

On the other hand, Ranjeev Lal Barua as Mohan was like a carbon copy of Deba Choudhury. Though Tina Masood was sailing well, she too, however, could not sustain the effect towards the end. Manash K Das, with proper guidance, could have done a better job. His delivery during the peak went out of bounds – as an actor he is yet to find the difference between a powerful act and a loud performance.

Scripted in 1985-86, the play ends when the discussion about the different options for intervening in the rape and torture of the woman in the neighbourhood are exhausted, and Naina announces that “It’s all over”- the torture has ended for that night! Leela’s reply is representative of the irony and tragedy of the play. “Leela (disappointedly): Oh! Then it must be over for tonight!”

However, the ‘brief messages’ conveyed as per the playwright’s stage directions, are as follows:

“This play is based on an eyewitness account. The incident took place in Santa Cruz, Mumbai 1982. The characters are fictional. The incident is a fact. In real life, as in the play, a group of ordinary middle class people chose to stand and watch while a woman was being brutalised in a neighbouring compound. In real life, as in the play, no-one went to the aid of the victims.”

Here the playwright makes theatre meet reality, theatricality is combined with reality, and the audience is perhaps left to ponder whether the uncanny resemblance of the acts in reality and in theatre have something to do with the concept of spectatorship in both urban life and in the theatrical experience. Despite this production, Manjula Padmanabhan, in her attempt to come to grips with the violence of these times, excels in this play Lights Out which left me, as a viewer, both shaken and thoughtful.

Sattyakee D’com Bhuyan