An elderly aristocratic lady from Lucknow, her manservant, a retired homeopathic doctor, a mysterious tenant –
Pankaj Kapur donned all these hats quite flawlessly in his dramatic reading of his novella
Dopehri at the
Delhi Theatre Festival. On Friday, the veteran theatre and film actor performed at the fest, which has brought some of the biggest names in theatre to Gurgaon. Kapur’s one-man-show was a dramatic reading of his novella Dopehri, which deals with the loneliness faced by
Amma Bi, a 60-something aristocratic woman from a Lucknow haveli and how her life changes when she takes in a young tenant – a woman from her maayka Jaunpur.
Supriya Pathak was also present at Pankaj Kapur’s performance
Even though he was the only performer on stage, the National Award-winning actor was able to smoothly conjure up imagery of 1980s’ Lucknow’s bylanes, the sprawling haveli, and even get into the skin of each of the characters. During the 90-minute performance, he was both narrator and every character.
Pankaj Kapur and Supriya Pathak
Pankaj, a Gurgaon resident, who came to watch the performance, said, “Even though he was the only man on stage, it was so emotional. We could feel and visualize every scene from the story and every character like they were real. It was incredible.” For many in the audience, it was their first experience watching a one-performer play. Tina, another audience member, told us, “It was so beautiful to see the emotions of so many diverse characters reach us from just one man. It was my first time seeing something like this.” The audience gave the performance a standing ovation as it ended and a moved Kapur responded by saying, “I must say you have been a wonderful audience. You have reacted very well to every nuance of the performance. Thank you!”
