Naseeruddin Shah: Audiences should remember a play the way they would... a gentle caress

Actor Naseeruddin Shah in Motley theatre group's 'Einstein', to be performed again at Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru, from July 12-17, 2022.

One of the most revered theatre companies today, Motley was conceived in a small coffee shop in Lucknow in 1978 when actors Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gilani decided to produce plays they were curious about - starting with Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.

Motley is celebrating its 44^th year by staging some of its most popular plays such as Manto Ismat Hazir Hain, Einstein, Aurat! Aurat!! Aurat!!!, Kambakht Bilkul Aurat and Dear Liar at Bengaluru's Ranga Shankara till the end of the month.

In a candid conversation, Shah recalls staging their first play and why he thinks the future of Indian theatre is in safe hands. Edited excerpts:

When Motley turned 40 in 2019, you had told this writer that you want to do plays that sock one in the gut. In the years that followed and some of the years preceding that, do you think the group has managed to do justice to that sentiment?

The answer to that will depend on the viewers’ perspective and I’ll respect that opinion - I myself can’t say what effect my theatre work has on audiences. I guess what I probably meant was that they should remember the play the way they would a sock in the gut. But a sock in the gut is not pleasant to remember so maybe I should have said ‘gentle caress' instead!

Rewinding to all those years ago, do you recall why you chose 'Waiting for Godot' to begin with? 

Staging Godot and forming Motley was Ben Gilani’s idea. I had read the play in college, but couldn't make head or tail of it; at the National School of Drama, despite (Ebrahim) Alkazi's explanations, it remained incomprehensible. I wasn't in favour of attempting it, but Ben insisted, saying we should just feel our way around at first, the understanding would follow. It did, but only after we stopped trying to understand it and began to try doing justice to the words, and over the years, it's become part of our systems. It's not a play that can be explained, it has to be felt.

Ebrahim Alkazi and Satyadev Dubey had different approaches to theatre. Can you elaborate on how these doyens of theatre shaped your thinking? 

Alkazi was a disciplinarian, Dubey was an anarchist. Alkazi was a designer by temperament and training. Dubey didn't give a hoot for design; he was obsessed with the guts of the play. Both were equally egotistic and short-tempered. Alkazi's work was sophisticated, Dubey's sometimes shoddy but always containing a warmth that Alkazi's personality and English temperament lacked. Alkazi's desire was to do large, spectacular productions; Dubey's to conduct a post-mortem of the text. Neither could stand the other or his work, and at times there was a surprising pettiness in the behaviour of both. But all said and done, both were highly knowledgeable and well-informed and both loved the theatre with a passion bordering on madness. I can't really pinpoint the effect these two giants had on my approach to theatre but I described their individual approach because maybe I've imbibed something from both - the good and the bad!

Motley started with English theatre but gradually, you started including Indian literature as well. Do you think that in doing that, you have evolved as a group? After Manto, Chughtai, Parsai among others, are there other writers of Indian literature that you are looking to discover, perhaps even playwrights in languages apart from Hindustani and Urdu? 

Attempting something in Hindustani was my idea. I was fed up with Motley being categorised as an English theatre group (synonymous with high-end South Bombay) and I also felt a strong urge to perform in the language I grew up hearing all around me.

Discovering Ismat Chughtai was as much of a revelation about Indian literature as playing Ghalib was about Urdu poetry. Apart from exposure to the literature of our country, doing these stories has given the company a wider perspective on theatre as well, because in storytelling you have to break the barriers of formality between yourself and the audience and get through directly to them. I don't think we've ever felt as much in harmony with the audience as when doing these stories on stage. It has also rubbed in the lesson of the distance necessary to maintain between oneself and the characters you are playing, because you are the storyteller and the character simultaneously.

The reason I've only experimented with writers from the North is because that's the milieu I really know. If I were to attempt a Kannada story or another Indian language I don't know, in translation, even if the translation did justice to the original (which they seldom do), I'd be stuck as to where to produce the atmosphere from. I think empathy with the subject is essential. I've had my fill of storytelling, though, I think and I want to try something I haven't done before, maybe something involving puppetry.

You have often expressed a wish to make the play 'Saint Joan' by George Bernard Shaw. When and how do you see it getting fulfilled?  

I must confess I shy away every time. It has a huge cast and I've seen how huge productions which don't have corporate backing suffer so I hesitate every time but it's a play I love and I think what it says is very relevant. So, who knows?

In a recent interview you had said that Indian theatre is safe in the hands of the next generation. Can you elaborate on that? 

There are innumerable young theatre workers around, and they are either writing plays or producing them or learning the ropes. Many small venues have opened up in Mumbai where plays can be staged economically by fledgling companies, and some of the youngsters are doing a sterling job. I'm very impressed by the level of enthusiasm and energy they have. Their work may be uneven now but if they persist, and I think they will, they will make a huge difference to Indian theatre in all departments because they don't seem sold only on box-office ideas. They have substance in their work.

Motley theatre group is staging its plays at Ranga Shankara, Bengaluru, all month. For specific dates and tickets, visit https://in.bookmyshow.com/venue/ranga-shankara-bengaluru/RSBL-RSBA