Drama online

 

Cast and audience of 'Repressed Desires.'

Poster of the play reading on Zoom.

-Brian Mendonca

The pandemic is behind us now. But during it education shifted online. We trudged through life through screens. So when we go online again when everything seems normal it seems a little quaint. 

Nevertheless, there was a treat to be had when I was invited to attend an online play reading session at 2 p.m. last Friday. I felt this was a perfect way to sail into the weekend - besides bidding adieu to September. 

This was an initiative of the Faculty of the Department of English, Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The University is located near Kasauli - where I wrote a poem - and is 73 kms. from Chandigarh. 

The breezes of the hills provided the perfect ambience for the performance - beginning as it were with tranquil music and images of the picturesque campus. 

The play chosen was Suppressed Desires (1914) by American playwright Susan Glaspell (1876-1948). The play is a comedy in two Acts and is a satire on dream interpretation - a key technique of psychoanalysis. It was first performed by Provincetown Players, an ensemble she founded.

The cast did justice to the play. Despite the obvious restrictions online the actors skillfully commanded the online space and made the play come alive. They recreated the ambience of the theatre and emoted all the lines with verve. 

Most of Glaspell's writing is set in Iowa where she lived on land which once belonged to Sauk American Indians. She was influenced by Black Hawk, a Sauk chief.

Good drama is hard to find. Good drama in English is even harder. The literary fare has also extended to the novel. Don Quixote by Cervantes was discussed earlier this month, and so was Scarlett Letter by Hawthorne.

This is a great way to broaden one's horizons of literature. At the same time an online viewing like this keep people connected. 
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Pic taken on 30 September 2022. Courtesy Manju Jaidka.