Through Our Lens - a Festival of Two Short Plays

By: Rekha Rajvanshi

Adakar Theatre Group launched a script writing competition Through Our Lens in January 2023. The two winning scripts of emerging South Asian writers about the inter- generational Australia were selected. Sonal Moore writer of the first play “Mangalsutra” and Vivek Asri writer of the second play “Packing” brought their diverse perspectives into their winning scripts under the artistic direction of Saba Zaidi Abdi. According to Saba purpose of this festival was to highlight the distinctive and overlooked tales of immigrant communities.

The English language drama “Mangalsutra” was directed by Sudip Sauden. It was set against the backdrop of two marriages exploring the relationship between love, denial and traditions. The curtain opened to a kitchen where Veena (Saba) is discussing about her daughter’s perspective grooms with her husband Nirav (Dinsha Palkiwala). Two generations of women

Veena (Saba Abdi), Meera (Mansi Gandhi) have varied reactions when their daughters desire to wed someone from a different culture: Veena, a first-generation mother, is hesitant to marry her daughter to a Chris- tian man Kit (Martin Byrne-Quinn), and Meera, a second-generation mother, has second thoughts when her daughter Asha (Dana Strbik) wants to wed a Muslim guy Amir (Ricky Somaiya). Though they had numerous reservations about their daughters’ choices, they ultimately come to the conclusion that things are not all that awful. All of the actors, including Bea (Ananya Dixit) Asha’s younger sister, did justice to their characters and the message was effectively delivered. Sonal’s screenplay was strong, but the audience thought that there was sometimes no clear distinction between the past and the present and that there was a bit too much going on at once.

The second play “Packing” penned by Vivek Asri and directed by Saral Somanaiya, follows Deepak’s compelling journey as he leaves everything in India hoping for a better life in Australia. Deepak (Hemal Joshi) arrives in Australia in search of a better life, leaving his young family behind, missing out on many precious moments with his wife Manjit (Sarwat Zehra) and daughter, who are waiting for him to come. He finally manages to get permanent status and decides to leave when When Jenny, whom he marries for a visa then divorces, starts phoning him and his immigration agent Raj (Munish Arora) starts bilking him of additional money. Unable to explain his situation to his wife, Deepak questions the validity of his choices. His friend Rohit (Anshul Chopra) tries to help but Deepak’s expectations are shattered when his wife Manjit urgently phones to warn him that all flights have been cancelled due to the Covid shutdown.

The audience could identify with the play as they all went through similar situations. Acting as well as direction was superb except at one instance when the play seemed to linger. The idea of using a phone to facetime Deepak’s wife Manjit’s emotions was innovative, and Sarwat Sehra excellently captured it through the expert use of her facial expressions. Lights and sounds were also ingeniously used.

The set was designed by Lochi Odgers, graphic designer was Kashmira Sachania, Sound was handled by Naishadh Somaiya, make-up artist was Mala Mehta, props and costumes were done effectively by Mani Dixit and Anu Shivaram.

Well done Adakar on shedding light on untold stories, celebrating our cultural roots, and offering fresh perspectives on life’s many journeys.