In her latest production, Trunk Tales, thespian Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry stitches together fragments of poems, texts and episodes to create a magnificent canvas, giving voice to those whom the society has ‘othered’.
The non-linear play, starring actor Vansh Bhardwaj, explores the politics of water, body, eating and gender. Mansingh calls it a work of ‘fraction’, a mix of fact and fiction.
“The performance follows the experience of an everyday person, chronicling the ‘otherness’ present in life, and exploring a way of expressing them. The stories are devised, and yet acknowledge real events, family histories and personal experiences,” she says.
“Trunk Tales comprises a series of memories, episodes and references, which have been taken from different sources, from which four distinct stories have evolved. These episodes chronicle the ‘nowhere people’ – people who don’t really fit in,” she says.
Asked if Mansingh had worked on the script herself, the thespian says, “I would say I worked on the text as the script is too grand a word to use for a non-scripted performance piece. I have taken lines from poems penned by Omprakash Valmiki, Sudeep Sen, Nandita Haksar, Pablo Neruda, and fragments from Nandita Haksar’s Flavours of Nationalism: Recipes for Love, Hate and Friendship and Nandini Krishnan’s Invisible Men. They have been interspersed with our own experiences, memories and understanding.”
The eponymous trunks are an integral part of the play. “The trunks kept on stage contain stories that need to be aired. They have been rendered invisible for far too long,” says Mansingh.
{{/usCountry}}The eponymous trunks are an integral part of the play. “The trunks kept on stage contain stories that need to be aired. They have been rendered invisible for far too long,” says Mansingh.
{{/usCountry}}On what was the most challenging aspect of the performance, Bhardwaj, who has been associated with Mansingh for around 20 years, says, “The performance is non-linear and layered. There is no start, middle or end. Each story plays out in 8-10 minutes and after the climax one has to go back to zero. The play is about those who have been ‘othered’ – transgenders, Dalits, and child rape victims.”
“I had to develop different body languages and understand the psychology of the characters.”
The 50-minute play, supported by a grant from the Goethe Institute and Ranga Shankara, has been digitised by Mansingh’s son Kabir Singh Chowdhry. Her next production is a play by Girish Karnad.
Catch It Live
What: Trunk Tales
When: May 4-10, 7pm onwards
Where: Studio Theatre, House number 9, Sector 4
Entry fee: ₹500, students can pay whatever they can
For tickets, email: parul.tara@gmail.com