Stories of hope and release
First Drop Theatre presents Crossing Over, a theatrical anthology, inspired by the stories of cancer survivors and their caretakers
Cancer brings devastation to one’s physical, emotional and financial wellbeing. The disease not only drains the patient, but also the family and caretakers, due to the long drawn treatments that stretch for years, leaving behind disastrous side effects.
In Bengaluru, Karunashraya (Bangalore Hospice Trust) offers free palliative care to the terminally ill, attempting to make their lives as comfortable as possible. In 2023, Karunashraya launched Crossing Over, a book compiling of the stories of its patients. These stories come to life on stage through First Drop Theatre as Crossing Over, to be staged from April 13.
“First Drop Theatre has not been into mainstream theatre but something called a playback theatre,” says Radhika Jain, founder and artistic director of the company. “It is an interactive, socioimprov format of theatre where the audience share feelings and moments from their lives, and the actors perform them onthespot using text, poetry, images, movement, music and more.”
The best thing about playback theatre is that one does not need a stage, costumes or a huge stage set, says writer and director Bejoy Balagopal. “It can be practised in any open space. We have used short and long forms, as well as metaphors to bring the stories to life using this form of theatre.”
First Drop Theatre explains Bejoy, focuses on theatre and health care, which led them to work extensively with Karunashraya. “We did a playback performance based on our interactions with the nurses and the caretakers there. Nurses, we realised, were deeply affected by all the patients they lost. Some of them said they had numbed themselves to be able to deal better with the suffering they witness daily.”
Radhika did an extended eightweek workshop for the nurses in Karunashraya to help them be aware of their emotions and how to deal with them. The long years of interaction led Karunashraya to collaborate with First
Drop Theatre when they launched the book.
It is an account of the experiences of the terminallyill, nurses, doctors and caretakers, says Bejoy. “We were asked to stage these stories. Crossing Over is a proscenium play.”
The play features three stories from the book, Bonds That Bind (a reflection on relationships), Rainbow of Emotions (different levels of acceptance that patients exhibit) and Prem &
Prem (about world beyond the binary and how that holds new meanings for health care professionals).
After the staging, Bejoy says, there will be half an hour of playback theatre time to interact with the audience.