Brides are not for burning

As soon as the lights are switched on, the cast take their positions in the drawing room, which has been converted into a courtroom for the evening. The prosecuting attorney, played by Ratan Batliwala and the defence attorney, played by Vishaal Asrani, move to their respective tables on either side of the witness box. Both are wearing the customary black robe and are armed with sheaves of paper. As they wait for the rest of the cast to settle down, they stare at each other with a practised no-nonsense expression firmly on their faces. Judge Havovi Kolsawalla takes her seat in the background while the first witness, Dilip Kapoor, played by Croydon Fernandes takes his position in the witness stand.

As the rehearsal finally gets underway, the unusual and intriguing plot unfolds. In a reversal of the real-life tragedy of dowry deaths, it is Dilip’s wife, Shanti, who is accused of murdering her mother-in-law, Devika Kapoor. The coroner’s report states that Devika died from third degree burnsand Shanti is held responsible for setting her on fire in their kitchen. And the damning evidence — her repeated uttering at the scene of the crime, "Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to…"

Dilip, his father Vinod and sister Sarla, are questioned about his mother’s relationship with his wife. And the prosecuting attorney goads them into pinning the blame on Shanti’s shoulders. Dilip admits that his wife was jealous of his mother. Batliwala’s booming voice reverberates through the drawing room as he runs through his questions and seems visibly pleased with the answers. He looks at the director for a reaction and she asks him to get even more aggressive in his stance.

Asrani on the other hand concentrates on bringing out the facts. He gets Vinod to admit that he did take a hefty dowry at the time of his son’s wedding. "But they were gifts’ Shanti’s father gave her. And if dowry were legal everyone would take it. After all, marriage is an expensive affair," says Varma, who is standing in for Manish Sharma forthis rehearsal.

The actors run through their lines smoothly and finally it is time for the accused, Shanti, to be produced in court. Meherangiz Acharia, dressed in a spotless white salwar kurta walks into the room looking helpless and quietly takes a seat in one corner. She looks on as Pranav Tripathi, who plays her father, desperately pleads his daughter’s innocence.

The action builds up to the climax, the final confession and a replay of the actual incident that took place a year before the trial.

"It is very difficult to relate to Shanti — her life is dictated by circumstances. No one, neither her father nor her husband, gave her the opportunity to blossom. So every time I walk on to the stage, I try to go blank," says Meherangiz, who has acted in plays like Gaslight and Begum Sumroo.

Both the writer and director insist that the play is not a simplistic, one-sided view of the dowry problem. "We are trying to show that people can pull over lies very sleekly. And that everything isdriven by circumstances," says Ramchandani-Nahawar.

Varma’s biggest challenge was to compensate for the lack of movement and music to back the story. "The characterisation has to be perfect and the actors must be totally comfortable with what they are doing. I just gave them basic blocking moves and let them add their own touch," she says.

And to give the dramatic movement a shot in the arm, she decided to do the flashback sequence in mime, complete with a play of lights on Devika’s burning body. "I wanted the naturalness of the situation to come through — with no room for mannerisms. I don’t want the play to look preachy — but it must make an impact," she says.

Witness, at the Experimental Theatre, NCPA, on February 21 1998. Time: 7.00 pm. February 22 1998. Time: 6.30 pm.