Poignant emotions on stage

DHNS, Feb 11, 2013

The Deccan Herald Theatre Festival came to a close last weekend at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, with two final productions: ‘Field of Poppies’ and ‘Plaza Suite’. Directed by Puja Goyal, ‘Field of Poppies’ was a surreal piece of theatre with a two-member cast, comprising Tushar Patil and Deepti Laigude. 

The production progressed slowly, building anticipation, and included surprising instances of poignancy. ‘Field of Poppies’ revolved around a straitjacketed man named Edward and his rather seductive psychiatrist, Anne. As the play begins, it’s quickly made obvious that Edward — who is trapped in what appears to be an asylum — has no clue who he is or how he got there. The viewer is left uncertain as to whether the narration is real or a mere dream sequence. Anne clearly knows a lot more about Edward than he does of himself — and through her gentle prodding and questioning, she encourages him to rediscover his past, especially his memories of one particular person.Through this journey of rediscovery, Edward begins to put together his past, piece by piece. A sense of urgency is introduced half-way through the production, as more memories come tumbling back to him. The dialogues dragged at times and the actors fumbled more than once but despite this, the tension was clearly transmitted to the audience. 

Bhandarkar, who attended, says, “It was interesting. I haven’t seen a production like this before. It seemed to pick up in the second half.

Photos from the production...