The Maids in performance

Two maids dressed in black, a sitting room bathed in soft yellow light, and an audience of no more than 40. The play in progress on Tuesday in a Moira Street house was Jean Genet?s absurd play The Maids. The cast comprised Ira Dubey, Shanaya Rafaat and Imogen Butler-Cole.

Giving the audience an intimate feel of theatre is what the Industrial Theatre Company from Mumbai, which staged the production, strives for. ?Genet had written this piece for performance. It wasn?t necessarily meant for the proscenium,? says Pushan Kripalani, the play?s director and founding member of the theatre company.

?The idea is to put the audience through an experience where the text is played out in large brush strokes. And the minute details are also given importance? In theatre, we don?t get the opportunity of close-ups.?

The cinematographer by profession had teamed up with three of his friends ? Rehaan Engineer, Karan Makhija and Nadir Khan ? in 2001 to form the Industrial Theatre Company. The aim was to do theatre in alternative spaces and the group has since been staging plays in gardens, cafes, art galleries and even homes. The troupe did Hayavadana in a garden and Agamemnon in an art gallery.

?Space is very organic to the text. In fact, the play dictates the space. We like to work with a small audience for an intimate feel. In Mumbai, only Prithvi Theatre and NCPA have the capacity of accommodating a maximum of 250 to 400. The rest of the auditoriums have huge seating capacities of no less than 800,? says Pushan, who feels pulling in the crowds to alternative spaces is a tough task.

With around 13 productions in its repertoire, the Industrial Theatre Company has shown variety in its choice of plays too. There?s ancient Greek theatre to Sanskrit works, Hindi literature to Indian writing in English.

The company comprises the core group of three ? ever since Karan Makhija dropped out ? and the members hire independent actors according to the requirements of the plays. ?Any three of us may choose a play and direct it. While Rehaan directs a play, I might be just distributing pamphlets outside the door,? says Pushan, who loves directing plays more than acting in them himself.

The Maids put up three shows in the city early this week, ?but every day it?s a different show?, insists Pushan. ?The movements of the actors change in the same space.?

In the confines of a south Calcutta apartment, what shone through was the intensity of Shanaya?s closing monologues.