’Stop trying to be Beckett’

Thespian Naseeruddin Shah on his association with the plays of George Bernard Shaw, his new plays and the advice he would most like to give young playwrights

'Stop trying to be Beckett'

Thespian Naseeruddin Shah on his association with the plays of George Bernard Shaw, his new plays and the advice he would most like to give young playwrights

Outside the rehearsal space, kids play football, cricket and tennis on the BMC playground. They know Naseeruddin Shah and his actors are rehearsing for a play inside, so every now and then they try to sneak a peek.

The actor-director is deep in conversation with young actors Faisal Rashid and Aahana Kumra, who play the leads in Village Wooing.
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Taking a break from rehearsal, Shah speaks to us about reviving Shavian plays, his gurus - Geoffrey Kendal and Satyadev Dubey - and opening a play on the day of the cricket World Cup finals.

You've had a long association with Shaw, having performed Dear Liar, Don Juan In Hell, Androcles And The Lion...
I think he's a great playwright, to state the obvious. What I love most is his wit, his use of language and the fact that his concerns are wider than, say, Shakespeare. His perception of human beings and his ability to create magic with words is on the same level as Shakespeare, but his concerns, and by that I mean, the subtext of his plays is deeper than Shakespeare's. One's not knocking old Mr William Shakespeare at all. But the language Shaw uses comes easy to us Indians. We're used to elaborate phrasing.

Apart from By George, you are going to work on Arms And The Man for children soon. How do you expect children to connect with a play about Fabian socialism?
Everybody is asking me, 'Which child will understand Arms and The Man?' Okay, they won't. But they'll retain something about it and that will, hopefully, stay with them. I saw Arms And The Man done by Mr Kendal, when I was about eight or nine years old and I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I didn't understand it. They came back a few years later and I understood it a little bit. By the time I did it in college I understood it. It created my taste for Shaw. So who knows! One can't be too concerned about the fallout of one's work. One must be driven to do it, and I feel driven to do Shaw.

Are these plays your way of paying tribute to Dubeyji, and Mr Kendal, who you consider your guru?
Yes (smiles fondly). I hope I'm not in my dotage (laughs). I don't think that my previous attempts at these plays were satisfactory, and that's why I'm going back to them. So yes, these are my way of paying homage to both Dubeyji and Mr Kendal.

You keep going back to classics, because you say there is a dearth of original writing in India. What is
it that you are looking for?
There are a few people like Siddharth Kumar and Anuvab (Pal), who are trying things, but I still think they're finding their feet as playwrights. The right script should use the living language (don't write exclusively in English, Hindi, Marathi or Gujarati), which young writers in Mumbai are trying to do, which is encouraging. Also, try to tackle subjects that you are immediately connected to. The playwrights shouldn't talk about the truth of the cosmos. I wish everybody would stop trying to be another Samuel Beckett.

Lastly, your play opens on the same day as the cricket World Cup finals. You may not find it difficult to get an audience, but being the cricket buff you are, how will you stay away from the TV?
I'm not acting! I shall go watch the match. (laughs) Now I've done what I could, so sitting in the audience and chewing my nails isn't going to help. I'm not concerned if nobody turns up. We'll get a damn good dress rehearsal if that happens. I think cricket lovers and theatre lovers are different breeds, so I'm sure a few people will
turn up.

ON April 2, 6.30 pm; April 3, 7 pm
AT Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
Call 22824567