Matsya Avatar to be staged today
Tanariri Theatres’ Matsya Avatar was written by Neeraja M Rajeev in English and translated to Hindi and directed by Pranav Patadiya. Matsya Avatar, Pranav says over a call from his home in Brookeeld, is a journey of an island as it faces destruction at the hands of nature. “The play explores what the people on the island strive for and how they love and dream as the inevitable inches closer.”
He and Neeraja are both from the corporate world and they founded Tanariri Theatres in 2013 for the love of theatre. “Till date, we have produced and performed seven plays in Hindi and English — Naatak Shuru, Four Year Transform, Let’s Have Sex!, The Green Room, Evam Indrajit, Aisa Kehte Hain and Lights Out. “
Matysa Avatar is their eighth production and rst original script, says Pranav. “The play is a reimagining of the Matsya Avatar story. Neeraja has taken the story to reect on today’s society. There is however no divine intervention in the play. Instead, the play examines the social and power structures in the society.”
Matsya Avatar is a reection on the pandemic, says Pranav.
He adds that his approach in terms of aesthetics was minimalistic be it the set design, costume or music. “We have used a lot of folk instruments and music. In terms of the theme, as the narrative is about the ood that is coming, the play depicts the theme of abundance in the rst half and that of disappearance in the second. Our stage set and lights reect this visually too. Since the play is about a natural crisis, nature also becomes a character.”
The name of the production company was inspired by the Hindustani classical musician, Tansen. “He sang ‘Raag Deepak’ for Akbar. It got very hot and even Tansen was burning. That is when he sought someone who could sing ‘Raag Malhaar’. Two sisters Tana and Riri, sang the raag to soothe Tansen. We named our company after sisters, Tanariri, because theatre soothes us.”
The 33-year old Neeraja says she always wanted to be a writer. “I started as a child but did not know how to construct a play. It was in 2019 that I attended a writing workshop with Abhishek Majumdar and that is when my journey as a playwright actually began.” Neeraja writes in English and Malayalam and Matsya Avatar is her second as a playwright. “The rst was Nerkku Ner (Face to Face) which is a womancentric play about sexual abuse. We are yet to bring it to production. Matsya Avatar was written in English, but we wanted to stage the play in Hindi as I felt it would be better in a regional language.”
The play, Neeraja says, features Divya Bajpai, Kousar Nawaz Afghan, Prateek Sultania, Prakil Singh, Vipin Naik, Devashish Singbal, Gaurav Deora, Gaurav Karmakar and Mahima Rastogi.
Matsya Avatar will be staged on May 1 at MEDAI, at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets on bookmyshow