The play ‘Taking Sides’ by The Theatre Company blends art with realism

Atul Kumar of The Company Theatre (TCT) makes a fresh start by acting in his latest directorial production of Ronald Harwood’s Taking Sides. “It is the first time that I am acting in a production that I am directing; I never gathered the courage to do that in the past,” says Atul over the phone. The two-hour production includes actors Sukant Goel, Mallika Singh, Richa Jain, Kashin Shetty, Kenny Desai and Kashish Saluja in its cast.

Hard-hitting play

Having done larger-than-life visual theatre, clown shows and farce theatre, Atul is now trying realism for the first time. A hard-hitting play, Taking Sides questions the morality of human beings through the struggles of art and politics. “It is about every person in the audience, his or her ethics and morality,” says Atul.

A scene from the play
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Atul’s Aaeen, focussing on the Constitution of India, was staged this year and started a new dialogue on freedom of expression.

2022 also marks the tenth anniversary of TCT, an Arts Centre Atul launched in Pune; inspired by theatre personality Veenapani Chawla (of the Adishakti Theatre Arts in Auroville, Pondicherry) and French stage director Ariane Mnouchkine.

TCT is a 25-year-old dream that took around seven years to realise; it has since been home to theatre groups from India and abroad. Calling it a space that carries the ‘energy of being something of their own,’ Atul says, “it is unbelievable that we have a place like that. Sometimes we have more than two or three groups in the same space — for research or rehearsals — and, sometimes, it is a full house with 40 people on a single project.”

He adds, “It is an ongoing journey; We generated one kind of audience during the clown series and another audience welcomed us when we shifted to musicals and comedies. Our experimental work has a niche audience. With a contemporary subject, we have to constantly struggle to attract young energies and minds. Now, we have to come up with ways to use digital world all the way up to artificial intelligence to reinvent theatre

The two-year forced break because of the lockdowns may have unexpectedly helped them to refocus to deal with new challenges. “We all went through a phase of uncertainty during the pandemic but there was introspection, and this will influence the stories that we want to tell.”

The Company Theatre (TCT) presents Ronald Harwood’s Taking Sides on November 5 and 6 at Rangbhoomi Spaces; 8 pm ₹499; Tickets: bookmyshow.com.