A cardboard cutout of a room with two windows,a rocking chair,stool,toy fire truck,rubber spiders,lamp shade and other items of everyday use were some of the objects used in the play Nostos (homecoming in Greek),staged at Jan Natya Manch on March 27. Belonging to the genre of object theatre,the play was first of its kind to be staged in India. Loosely based on Homers Odyssey,it began with two characters playing Athena and Poseidon,and then the audience was confronted with a puppet called Odysseus,emerging from a book. The faceless,wax puppet did not play for laughs or entertain,but was emoting to convey the rather serious message of the Homeric play. In that respect,the play performed by The Tram Theatre Group was successful. The rest of the characters included a representation of a house,a live performer and a sculptor all dressed in black,with minimal dialogues. The only negative was the low lighting. One has to give a character to an object,and since it is non-verbal,the story is not stated,but open to interpretation, says Chaiti Ghosh.
