National award winning director and theatre revivalist Nipun Dharmadhikari is busy checking the rehearsal for his new play after a break of 2 years. The play Adlay Kaa..? with Parna Pethe and Atul Pethe as the main characters in this 100 minute play.
This play is special for Nipun, for he has been longing to do it for the past seven years. “This play is an official adaptation of a German play, Die Besetzung, written by the celebrated, contemporary Swiss playwright Charles Lewinsky, who I had chance to meet and interact with him in 2014 in Pune. Goethe Institute Max Mueller Bhavan was celebrating its 100th anniversary in India. As part of their celebrations, they had invited a German writer from Switzerland Charles Lewinsky to address theatre practitioners in Pune and help them get acquainted with his work,” said Nipun.
“I kept in touch with him and had asked if there could be a play that would not be as grand as his other plays and he had sent me two scripts of his plays in German, which I am not familiar with. With the help of a friend, and post translation by Shaunak Chandorkar, we, (Parna, Atul and I) wrote the performance script.” Added Nipun.
“I have always wanted to do this play as it is relevant even today, after Covid. This play’s premise deals with the question, why theatre is important even now, with the fast changes taking place around us, whether there is a need for an art form as theatre,” he adds.
Nipun says, “I always believed in the words of John Steinbeck that when it part of the evolutionary process, theatre is the only institution that has been dying but hasn’t succeeded because it has dedicated people.”
Besides the play, Nipun kept himself busy during Covid, reading and planning for his next film. “I am waiting for the release of Mee Vasantrao, a biopic on veteran Hindustani classical singer Vasantrao Deshpande, which is long due and am excited for its release,” said Nipun, “Meanwhile, this play will keep me the excitement and also bring the audience back to the theatre.”
The play Adlay kaa loosely translates as ‘Is it stopping you..?’ will premiere at Bharat Natya Mandir on Friday (today) 6.30 pm, with shows on Saturday and Sunday at 6.30pm. tickets available on venue and on bookmyshow.
