Bitter tales get refreshing sweetness

Think of the society as you know it. Think of the relationships that you have on this planet-- friends, mother, father, siblings. Now, throw all that your protected life has taught you about these relationships in the trash and pick up the filthiest piece of garbage that you see in the same mound. That is the true face of humanity, if it can even be called that anymore.

‘Bitter Chocolate’, a play written by Pinki Virani and directed by Vinay Varma, was staged to a stunned and disgusted audience at Lamkaan. The sultry weather did all that it could but was unable to break the audience’s attention from what was going on up on the stage.

The play is a series of narrations of real life incidents of child molestation. There were raw events presented to the audience and despite their rawness, they ‘stank’ like rotten eggs. One after the other actors Parveen Bastawala, Ganesh Nallari, Raji Nair, Supriya Aysola, Sayantani Ghosh and Vinay Varma came on stage and narrated the horrors that innocent children have gone through in this country and the disgusting cover ups that the family members resorted to.

We have all heard at some level, father’s friends, cousins or sisters and even neighbours taking advantage of little children. What stood out in this play were two things. First was the story of a mother molesting her child without even knowing what she was doing it to him. This particular story will shatter all the images that Bollywood has created of a mother.

It pulls down the idea of a mom from being that superhuman who is forever looking out for you, to a more human form who is a slave to her carnal desires. The other thing that gets your goat is the long-lasting psychological impact that these mental trauma causes to these kids. Boys turn to homosexuality and girls into prostitution.

The story of a little girl pimping herself out, time and again, for half a rotten apple will tear your heart out. You almost start wishing that these actors were not this skilled at story telling as the images that they paint with their words are so vivid that it is unbearable.

This play is more about stripping our society naked rather than having an artistic quotient. That said, a story is only as impactful as its actors. The actors did a brilliant job. The only speed bump in the entire experience was that many of them kept forgetting lines and fumbling mid delivery. Normally these would have gone unnoticed but with this intense narration you tend to hang on to every word and the minor hiccups throw you off your thought process.

Little needs to be said about Sutradhar production team. They were on their mark as always. Tech was spot on, literally, and the backstage team gave all the support that the actors needed. Apart from being a wonderful play it is highly informative for everyone, especially for parents. If not anything, the play will teach you what kind of wolves to watch out for and protect your kids from.

By:Saharssh