On a rain-soaked evening at India Habitat Centre last week, former Kirori Mal College faculty and theatre society advisor Keval Arora premiered his play Jhadpe, an adaptation of Catherine Hayes’ 1981 play Skirmishes. Through the strained relationship between two sisters caring for their dying mother, the production examined the emotional weight of caregiving and the invisible labour that often falls on one person. Using sharp dialogue, inventive puppetry and an unconventional intermission, the play left audiences reflecting long after the curtain fell.
The dismantling of the puppet which left audience stunned
‘The play came alive in the intermission’Talking about bringing a play from a different culture, the director said, “Because these are emotions that we have gone through or will be going through, bringing it to a different culture from London to India was very easy for me. When you pick up a play that talks to you, it is almost as if the play tells you, ‘This is how I want to be done.’” During a short intermission, audiences came back to the hall to see Jyoti continuing her work while she hummed atune. Keval called it an experiment. “And that is the point when she says, ‘main toh phas gayi hoon, baaki sabko raahat mil gayi hai.’ Humne aapko bataya ki intermission hai, but usko intermission nahi mila. Woh apna kaam karti gayi. That’s her life. I saw three people talking to themselves and laughing while she carried on working. That is the nazarandazi she’s complaining about. The play came alive in the intermission via the audience’s contribution, by taking a breath when she couldn’t.”
The audience were left retrospecting about the play much after its climax; Keval Arora (inset)
‘The play has been on the slow burner for two years’The mother was represented with a life-sized puppet, a technique used in theatre to portray characters via inanimate objects. The puppeteers, who played the house spirits, had personalities of their own, even when the other characters didn’t acknowledge them in the plot. It concluded in eerie silence as the puppeteers dismantled the mother’s puppet and packed away the set, abruptly returning the audience to reality. Making her theatre debut, Shalini Baxi, who played Jyoti, one of the daughters, shared, “This play has been on the slow burner for nearly 2 years, so it doesn’t feel like performing it for the first time. It will resonate with each one of us. Caregiving, family dynamics – they’re part of our lives someday or the other, and it’s a difficult place to be in. Both characters are in each one of us.”
