‘Invading into privacy’ is one of the most debatable issues across the world. The play Privacy, inspired by the Edward Snowden revelations about government surveillance, which was staged at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala, talks about a global link where every human can connect with each other and see each other’s actions live.
“Intrusion into privacy is not an issue of Haryana or Kerala, it is a universal problem,” said Ajay Khatri, director of the play.
Privacy is the story of a writer who has been hiding for years in her shell. She is afraid of coming out in public and on social media. Heartbroken and after a deep interaction with a psychoanalyst, she is determined to take on the world.
She wants to write a play, meet new people, interact and experience their lives. She is introduced to the social media and other technologies and learns how they are involved in surveillance.
She unwraps herself in front of society and eventually ends up meeting someone alike.
“The play has been following the fragment style of theatre. My passion is to present the art in the raw form. The script is inspired by Edward Snowden’s revelations a few years ago. It talks about ‘privacy’ of a human; analyses the private and public sphere of an individual,” said Mr. Khatri, an alumnus of the National School of Drama, New Delhi. However, some in the audience found it hard to catch up with the rapid change in storyline.
On ‘dark’ energy
Karuppu, another Indian play staged at the ITFoK, is a dance-drama representation of the movement of the ultimate Purusha and Prakriti energies through the birth, destruction, and rebirth of the universe.
Staged by Puducherry-based Indianostrum Theatre, founded by French-Indian director Koumarane Valavane, the play is a theatrical experience of the separation of Purusha from Prakriti that destroys the universe.
However, the destruction is not permanent, as nothing is. Only in the powerful destruction of the world and all its constituent materials by Karuppu (Dark) energy is the reunion of Consciousness and Nature possible, giving rebirth to all of existence.
‘Higuita’ on stage
Higuita – A goalie’s anxiety at the penalty kick, directed by Sasidharan Naduvil, is the dramatisation of the famous story Higuita by writer N.S. Madhavan.