PUNE, June 3: It was a thought-provoking look at the hypocritical posture of leftist idealists. Tyaacha Prakhar Samajik Jaanivache Nikhaare, adapted from a short story by Arun Sadhu into a play by Sandesh Kulkarni of the city-based theatre group, Samanway, was staged at Snehasadan on Tuesday.The play revolves around Prahlad Patrikar, once a student activist with strong leftist leanings who, in an apparent turnabout, has since got a cushy job at an MNC. Confronted by his alter ego or inner voice, played skillfully by Shashank Shende, about his dedication to the leftist cause, Patrikar periodically suffers from guilt pangs. He explains his stand to his friends in terms of a strategy of busting the capitalist system from within, but his inaction on this front exposes his hypocrisy.
Each character in the play has in some way strayed from his idealistic path - the US-returned Chitale, who talks of returning to the cause through technology while not being able to do anything; Saroja, an advertising executive, and as such part of the capitalist system, who tries to purge her conscience by writing against it through columns.
Although their hypocrisy is evident to others, they refuse to believe they have forsaken the path of revolution and continue to talk of it in their plush air-conditioned flats. Kiran Yadnopavit as Patrikar and Ashwini Ekbote as Saroja played their roles effectively. This play, which will be performed again on June 9, guarantees food for thought.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.