Pagla Ghoda's local version has raw take on patriarchy

Time of India

15 hours ago

Pune: Pagla Ghoda is not the kind of play that disappears quietly into theatre history.
This powerful piece, written by
Badal Sircar
in the 1960s, has haunted Indian stages for over six-and-a-half decades.
Audiences will experience its piercing truths once again on the weekend, with 9Thirty Theatre Company staging the work at The Box2 in Erandwane on June 8 at 1 pm, under Chahat Singla's direction.
The play is set in a crematorium where four men gather for a young woman's funeral who died by suicide following a love affair.
What follows is a slow, smouldering confession that exposes the hypocrisies, fears, and fragile egos of men who had failed the women in their lives all along.
Badal Sircar's writing is sharp and subtle, implying that no matter how educated or refined, men often share a brutal indifference when it comes to love and emotion. However, Chahat Singla's staging of the play brings a fresh, confrontational edge. For one, the soul that haunts the cremation ground in this version is not that of the dead woman, but of a man.
"There's a big difference when a man asks certain questions to society and when a woman does," said Singla, who also plays the central, ghostly character.
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"When woman ask these questions to men, there would be no effect. But when a man is asking them, ego comes into play. It frames fragile masculinity," he said.
By flipping the gender of the unfulfilled soul, Singla reframes the entire emotional landscape of the play. "This shows how different emotions are evoked when patriarchy is questioned by different genders. It also shows how little and how slowly society has changed over the last 65 years.
There is awareness, but no acceptance," said Singla.
Though the original play has been staged across India and abroad by countless theatre troupes, the Pune production leans into rawness. There is no attempt to cushion the audience from the discomfort of confrontation.
"The play has exaggerated pauses between dialogues to let the heavy emotions sink in. These dramatic silences provide space for the audience to feel what's being said and to think about it in real time," Singla explained.
Among the play's ensemble, the character of Laxmi, stands out in this staging for her compassion. "She is a prostitute, treated quite rudely by everyone. She's like a blank canvas, coloured by how life and people have treated her. It makes you see her not just as a prostitute, but as a human being crushed by patriarchy," said Singla.
It's this layered humanisation and refusal to let audiences escape into stereotypes that makes Pagla Ghoda still hit hard today.
Pune: Pagla Ghoda is not the kind of play that disappears quietly into theatre history.
This powerful piece, written by Badal Sircar in the 1960s, has haunted Indian stages for over six-and-a-half decades. Audiences will experience its piercing truths once again on the weekend, with 9Thirty Theatre Company staging the work at The Box2 in Erandwane on June 8 at 1 pm, under Chahat Singla's direction.
The play is set in a crematorium where four men gather for a young woman's funeral who died by suicide following a love affair.
What follows is a slow, smouldering confession that exposes the hypocrisies, fears, and fragile egos of men who had failed the women in their lives all along.
Badal Sircar's writing is sharp and subtle, implying that no matter how educated or refined, men often share a brutal indifference when it comes to love and emotion. However, Chahat Singla's staging of the play brings a fresh, confrontational edge. For one, the soul that haunts the cremation ground in this version is not that of the dead woman, but of a man.
"There's a big difference when a man asks certain questions to society and when a woman does," said Singla, who also plays the central, ghostly character. "When woman ask these questions to men, there would be no effect. But when a man is asking them, ego comes into play. It frames fragile masculinity," he said.
By flipping the gender of the unfulfilled soul, Singla reframes the entire emotional landscape of the play. "This shows how different emotions are evoked when patriarchy is questioned by different genders.
It also shows how little and how slowly society has changed over the last 65 years. There is awareness, but no acceptance," said Singla.
Though the original play has been staged across India and abroad by countless theatre troupes, the Pune production leans into rawness. There is no attempt to cushion the audience from the discomfort of confrontation.
"The play has exaggerated pauses between dialogues to let the heavy emotions sink in.
These dramatic silences provide space for the audience to feel what's being said and to think about it in real time," Singla explained.
Among the play's ensemble, the character of Laxmi, stands out in this staging for her compassion. "She is a prostitute, treated quite rudely by everyone. She's like a blank canvas, coloured by how life and people have treated her. It makes you see her not just as a prostitute, but as a human being crushed by patriarchy," said Singla.
It's this layered humanisation and refusal to let audiences escape into stereotypes that makes Pagla Ghoda still hit hard today.
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