Three plays and a writer

Journalist, poet, art curator and critic Ranjit Hoskote is about to make his debut as a playwright with a set of three plays — The Last of the Alamgir, Karna and Aftermath — directed by Avaan Patel.

Journalist, poet, art curator and critic Ranjit Hoskote is about to make his debut as a playwright with a set of three plays — The Last of the Alamgir, Karna and Aftermath — directed by Avaan Patel. The performance will premiere on Thursday at Nariman Point’s Y B Chavan Centre.

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Casting coup
Consequently, it will be staged at Juhu’s Prithvi Theatre. The cast comprises Tom Alter, Vivek Tandon, Gerish Khemani, Vijay Varma, Danesh Khambata and Avaan Patel. The performance will be supported by Sam Kerawalla’s light design and a scaffolding created by Dhanendra Kawade.

The Last of the Alamgir retells stories of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Of Karna, Hoskote says about the epic-hero from Mahabharata, “He is an inexhaustible character, who’s both impulsive and generous. To develop these qualities in the compass of a small play was like an adventure.”

In Aftermath, with elements of science fiction, Karna and Alamgir reappear. Characters here try to piece together fragments of a lost world and destroyed relationships.

According to Hoskote, “All the three plays are about people trying to get a grip of who they are, where they are and what kind of world they are living in.They’ve been rehearsing for four months. Says Patel, “I am so involved in the play that I cannot think in a linear manner. Things just keep evolving at the rehearsals.. it’s unpredictable.”