‘He Gele’ is a darkly comic experimental production that portrays a widow’s struggle for independence
RAMANDEEP KAUR | NT BUZZ
In the opening scene of ‘He Gele’ (He has gone), the phone rings as the protagonist lies half-asleep. She is told her husband has died of a heart attack but believes he has only gone to God’s house and will return. As women gather at the house, their everyday conversation turns to marriage, widowhood, and the choices they have made.
“One woman is preoccupied with cooking, while the other largely responds by agreeing with everyone else,” says Vasco-based Vaibhav Naik, who directed this experimental Marathi play, written by Maharashtrian writer-director Yogesh Soman.
The scene then moves to the women drinking together and speaking more openly about widowhood. They discuss what a widow is expected to wear, where she can go, how she should speak and how she should conduct herself. The protagonist questions these restrictions and decides to take up a career opportunity she had given up because her husband did not approve of it.
“She is sad that he is gone but there is also a point where she feels happy that she can finally make her own choices. It’s like two shades in one character,” says Naik, who decided to stage the play after conducting a free one-day workshop for local and amateur artistes in Vasco. The workshop introduced participants to production, technical aspects of theatre, theatre ethics and acting. He later read several scripts before choosing ‘He Gele’.
The original script had only female characters. Since the workshop group included male performers also, Naik decided to cast them as women.
Alisha Menezes conducted a workshop with the performers on costume and make-up, while Shablo Gaonkar worked with them on realistic and non-realistic acting. Mahadev Bordekar designed the set, using sarees, nighties, aprons, and children’s clothes. Abhiraj Bhagat and Nikhil Mardolkar handled the background music.
Most of the performers are from Vasco and are new to theatre. They include a security guard at Ravindra Bhavan and a young woman who works at a local shop.
The production places the audience on all four sides of the acting area, a concept that was new to a cast accustomed to conventional staging. Naik says, “It took me almost one month to explain to them what intimate theatre is. One mistake and the audience can see you directly.”
While the play begins and ends with a funeral, the dead body is never physically shown on stage. The actors have to keep their performances natural while working within the setting.
The play runs for about 70 minutes. It was first staged in Sanquelim last month and will have its second presentation on August 29 at Sankruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji.
The show is being presented under the Directorate of Art & Culture’s Prayogsanj initiative and is the first theatre production by Maskhara Studios Goa, which has previously worked on films.
Naik teaches theatre art in school and works as a freelance actor, director and screenwriter. He plans to take ‘He Gele’ to Pernem, Margao and villages around Ponda, with Canacona also being considered.
He is also working on another production and hopes to involve artistes from different parts of Vasco, a city that, in his opinion, has seen a decline in theatre participation over the years.
(‘He Gele’ will be staged on August 29, 6.30 p.m. at Sankruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji. Entry is free.)
