What happens when a young scientist arrives at the banks of the river Ganga? What happens when she sees a connect between science and religion, between its self-cleansing waters and the bacteria that inhabit it? What happens when poor children die and the government looks the other way?
It’s this ‘what’ that playwright Gautam Raja addresses in his tale of twists, The Invisible River. What makes it entertaining is the eclectic mix of characters that drag themselves all over his script – a pujari with a devious motive, a malicious ‘neta’ and a smart slum boy. Developed for the Theatrescience Project- Imagining the Future India festival in collaboration with Tinderbox Consultants, UK, this play is being done in partnership with the Theatre Royal Plymouth and Jagriti Theatre in Bangalore. The cast comprising Pritham Kumar, Sukhita Aiyar, Harish Seshadri, Veena Appiah and Joshua Saldanha is directed by Ruchika Chanana, who has helmed 10 plays so far. “The Invisible River is unusual because it combines two areas that are usually not brought onto the same platform- theatre and science,” says Chanana. “We present an issue that’s relevant to all of us – a scientific issue- which like all such issues, has an inherent drama in it. Bio-medical issues often have social, political, ethical, economic and religious fall outs…and that’s exactly what the Theatrescience project works with to give audiences dramatic, entertaining scripts, which also give them a perspective on an important or emerging cutting edge science idea.”
But why the Ganga? “The basic idea for the play was suggested by scientific advisor Mukund Thattai, and it revolved around bacteriophages in the Ganga… so it came to me dramatically perfect,” says Raja who wrote the script on Ruchika’s request. “There’s the Cauvery certainly, but if you had to choose a river by which to set an Indian play, it would have to be the Ganga. Not only is there everyday drama on its banks, there’s so much drama in its mythical creation, so much in its religious meaning, and also, so much on a microscopic level, thanks to these viruses that infect bacteria, giving the river its self-cleansing properties.”
The play is as real as it can get. After all, some pharma companies like Gangagen are already harvesting micro organisms called bacteriophages for research into their potential for treating disease, especially now that antibiotics are becoming more and more ineffective. “Bacteriophage therapy is much more natural and has no side effects,” says Chanana. “Scientists are researching the fact that bacteriophages present in the Ganga eat the germs that cause cholera – which is why the spread of the disease is not much worse than it could be.”
Cast the social message aside and the play is as effective. In fact, what moved the needle for the play’s UK collaborators was the play’s emotional quotient. “I mainly liked the play because it’s a love story and all the best stories are love stories,” says a candid Rebecca Gould of Tinderbox Consultants. One look at the play and you know what she means. The play is predominantly about different people’s love for the river… and then between Uma the catalyst and Thyagu the protagonist, and between Thyagu and his adopted son Jayant’s love for his mother. It’s also about Uma’s love for her work and Thyagu’s love for his, which in this case, is about cleaning up the river… and then there is the mother’s love for her religion… Essentially, there’s love all over the place…
Real, well-etched characters keep you engaged. “There is an effective flashback device that is used to highlight one particular scene. It is lit by projections of the river Ganga specially edited for the play from the film Jayaganga directed by Vijay Singh,” says Chanana. “The music of the play is also chosen from various sources and is very evocative.”
So what’s the most memorable part of the play, we ask Chanana. “Without giving anything away, I’d say watch out for Padma madam (enacted by Sukhita Aiyar), who plays a power-hungry politician from Allahabad!”
‘The Invisible River’ plays on March 8 at 7.30pm and March 9 at 3.30pm and 7.30pm at Ranga Shankara. For details, call Jagriti on 97406-57191 or email: art@jagrititheatre.com. More shows are planned for Delhi and the UK sometime in April-May.