AtamjitWho is a true comrade? What is his/her driving force and ideology? These are some of the many questions that theatre actor and director Sangeeta Gupta is contemplating, as she readies for the staging of Mungu Comrade, written by Sahitya Akademi award winner Atamjit.
Since the time Gupta, founder of Roopak Kala and Welfare Society, did a performance reading of the play in Nairobi in 2018 with Atamjit, she has been working towards mounting a full-fledged production. “I had to wait because of financial constraints and also the fact that the play demands a big cast,” says Gupta.
Mungu Comrade is the incredible story of an extraordinary man, Makhan Singh, a Sikh who went to Kenya to earn a living. He fought for the freedom of Kenya, its people and the rights of the workers by founding Kenya’s trade union movement. An unsung hero, who spent more than 20 years in jail, Atamjit says he was compelled to share his story. “Mungu is the Swahili word for god and I think it is an apt title for a man like Makhan Singh,” shares the playwright. He adds that he needed to bring in theatrical devices, fictional elements and some light moments to make the story absorbing and also focus on the many burning issues.
Gupta, who is working with a cast of 25 actors from across Punjab, says her constant endeavour is to present something new and theatre must resonate with the times we live in. “As a theatre person, we need to raise a voice against the ills. We complain about the ills in our country, but how many of us have the courage and willingness to work towards a change. Makhan Singh gave up his life for his karambhoomi. He made unions not on the basis of colour or religion, but for the rights of the mazdoors,” says she, adding, “I have been doing experimental theatre for years and there are many elements that will be incorporated in the play. We will use live singing and music to present this shaurya gatha. While the play is in Punjabi, we will present it later in Hindustani.”
