‘Performing a play in Chandigarh is such a significant moment for me,’ Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry on her brand-new production, The SuitIt was long-awaited — the staging of Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry’s latest play, The Suit, which opened at the Rangshankara Festival in October 2007. And almost a year later, the director is set to stage it for the Chandigarh audiences. Presented by People For Animals (PFA), the play has been sponsored totally, “and 100 per cent burden is off my head,” Neelam agrees that the organizational aspect is a logistic nightmare for her and she was very relieved not to wear too many hats. According to Payal Sodhi of PFA, by supporting art, culture, they are looking for support from the city, to help them branch out, “and I’m so happy with the response from our sponsors. People here have really opened up to our work and concern.’’ “The inspiration for my work comes from this city, this environment has nurtured me, so performing here is so significant and exciting, for my actors of The Company and me,’’ the play has been inspired by a three-page story by South African writer Can Themba and deals with a cruel moral dilemma faced by a young married couple. The husband discovers his wife in bed with her lover. The lover flees, leaving his suit behind. The husband then forces the woman to treat the abandoned suit as an honoured guest, accompanying them even on walks and at the dinner table. Though intended as a constant and tormenting reminder of infidelity, the suit becomes a witness as much to the husband’s own misery as to the slow mental disintegration of the wife.Neelam recalls seeing the play in ‘95 at the Tricycle Theatre in London during the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT). “Performed in a realistic manner, I was moved by it and kept using it as a reference and sub-consciously, I wanted to move into another genre,” Neelam says that the play is deeply rooted in the politics of South Africa and the presence of the suit in the play is a metaphor for apartheid. Neelam says the political metaphors did not work for her at all, as she cannot work on a decontextualized frame. Dramatized by Surjit Patar, Neelam says a lot of improvisation, team-work and character building went into the production. “The play is apolitical with no agenda. While reading the story I felt anger of the characters, their sense of being betrayed by their own natures. It may appear a simple tale of a husband and wife and loyalty, but ultimately, theatre becomes a courtroom in which we judge ourselves and our mysteries. Is the husband guilty of brutalizing his wife? Is his wife guilty of adultery? Was he angry, and she lonely? it is for theatre to mediate.”The Suit will be staged at the Rock Garden from November 12 to 16 at 7 pm.
