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Covid has reduced us to numbers rather than people who’ve dreamt, loved, lost: Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry
Renowned thespian Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry will explore what it means to be incarcerated due to the pandemic in her latest production ‘Black Box’, starring theatre
Renowned thespian Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry will explore what it means to be incarcerated due to the pandemic in her latest production ‘Black Box’, starring theatre and film actor Vansh Bhardwaj, which will be showcased to a limited audience at The Studio Theatre, Sector 4, Chandigarh, from October 9 to 14.
“We are in the midst of an extreme existentialist crisis. Fear of the virus is so tangible that I wanted to explore what it means to be incarcerated, to lose the life you are so used to, or to lose a career? How does one create their own affirmations?” Mansingh says.
The play, a devised improvisation, also deals with the leitmotif of numbers. “Everyday a bulletin comes out enumerating the infections, recoveries, and deaths. Tomorrow we may become one of the numbers rather than being a person who dreamt, loved, lost, and created, which builds anxiety,” she adds.
Ask Mansingh if it was difficult to put up a production amid the pandemic, she says, “This was a new experience. There is no music, which has been an intrinsic part of my works in the past. I have always done ensemble work. But this time, I worked with only one person who does the lights and everything by himself.”
The play will be adapted for cinema by Mansingh’s son, Kabir Singh Chowdhry.
