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Mint
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Sunil Shanbag's play ‘The Horse' blends satire and comedy
Over 20 actors—all on stage together at times—are in sync relaying the chaos that comes with a wild albeit deeply political satire. Music interludes elevate the crowd scenes or craft moments of intimacy and idiocy around a horse. The horse is called Incitatus and has Rome—and specifically its notorious emperor Caligula (Akash Khurana)—in a tizzy. After all, no one's ever seen an animal so magnificent. The last in Aadyam Theatre's Season 7 is a play by veteran director Sunil Shanbag featuring horse heads and halters too. Shanbag first read Hungarian playwright Julius Hay's The Horse in the 1980s. It was one of three in a collection of Eastern European plays published by Penguin. The other two were by noted Czech writers Vaclav Havel and Christy Rozek. 'It was a time when there was a fair interest in Eastern European plays. Satyadev Dubey had already done Rozek. Anmol Vellani had done Vaclav Havel. Marathi playwright Vrindavan Dandavate had travelled to Eastern Europe. Mahesh Elkunchwar had spent time in Eastern Europe," recalls Shanbag. He remembers being 'delighted" when he read it, but was aware that it wasn't possible to mount a production of such scale at the time. The play stayed with him and cropped up during workshops and readings at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). 'On further reading, I found out that Hay was a contemporary of Bertolt Brecht. While both were interested in the theatre of ideas, they had differing opinions about the nature of theatre," he says. When the time came to do a play for Aadyam, Shanbag recalled The Horse for its inherent scale and satire. Then came the task of acquiring a copy of the play and requesting permission from Peter Hay, the son of the author and the translator of The Horse. The play begins with a scene at the tavern—a young man, Selanus (Neil Bhoopalam), on his first day in Rome; emperor Caligula in disguise; and a coterie are playing a game of dice. Selanus has lost it all with nothing left to wager but his horse, the mighty Incitatus. Caligula is so taken by the animal that he will go to great lengths to acquire it. With erratic ideas and a God complex, Caligula passes decree after decree, including one to erase every other decree. Another such is the appointment of Incitatus as the Consul of Rome. And the revered Consul must eventually find a suitable bride. There's a love story somewhere in this mix. There's also a donkey and a man pretending to be a horse. The satirical play is large and loud. Shanbag didn't set out to do a comedy but believes it can make complex ideas accessible to an audience. 'Comedy is perhaps the most difficult form of theatre. It must come with comic skills, comic timing and a sense of fun and joy. This play has an additional challenge of an underlayer of satire," he says, adding that it's been a fascinating journey for him and the cast. 'We don't get to do comedy often. It's not looked upon as serious enough," he says. The play—first staged in 1965—is over half a century old but Shanbag believes that satire with a certain depth of ideas resonates with the contemporary regardless of when it was written. 'Besides, history has patterns," he says. 'There are some common themes—the seduction of a population with an idea, the abandonment of rationality and blind faith—that are all relevant today," he adds. As for scale, Shanbag finds it both daunting and thrilling. Daunting for the planning (eight months) and the organisation that it takes to bring a 20-member cast together in a rehearsal room, and thrilling for the ability to perform to an 800-member audience. 'I don't think we get enough opportunities to do that. It's lovely to perform in intimate spaces but the thrill of 800 people watching and laughing is quite something. I believe that with our kind of theatre, we should not surrender or abandon mainstream spaces. We should seize every opportunity to occupy them," he says. The scale also allows him to bring in skilled collaborators like Kaizad Gherda for music, and Shampa Gopikrishna and Bertwin D'Souza for choreography. This, in addition to a vibrant cast which includes senior actor and co-founder of Shanbag's Arpana Theatre Akash Khurana. The two have reunited for a production after three decades, and Khurana portrays the maniacal Caligula with rare charm. While Shanbag's preoccupation with the theatre of ideas has always been evident (his last production was Utpal Dutt's Barricade), he believes comedy is as valid as any other form. He hopes the audience takes a moment to reflect amid laughter. 'That's what theatre can do—hold a mirror and help you reflect a little. In this case, it is through laughter and the absurdity of the situation. All comedy relies on the ability of people to laugh at themselves," he says. 'I want people to have an entertaining and stimulating evening. For me, that's the perfect definition of an evening at the theatre." On 9 August, 7.30pm, and 10 August, 4pm and 7.30pm at Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Mumbai. On 6-7 September at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi Prachi Sibal is a Mumbai-based culture writer.
India Today
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
What pulls theatre director Sunil Shanbag to satire?
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated August 11, 2025)In a tiny, sparse studio in Versova with no props and sets, theatre director Sunil Shanbag is busy imagining first-century Rome. There's some neighing and galloping, a bit of singing, and excitable parents who want to marry their daughter off to a horse. Shanbag watches, giving directions to actors like Akash Khurana and Neil Bhoopalam on entry and exits, bringing to life Hungarian playwright Julius Hay's The a play that has stayed with him since he first read it in 1982. When Aadyam, an initiative of the Aditya Birla Group, approached him to develop a play for its seventh season, Shanbag found himself returning to the political satire which, as per the synopsis, offers an 'unsettling look at ambition, delusion, herd mentality, and the absurd circus of power'. 'One had to look for a play that allows scale and still lets you explore ideas,' says Shanbag. Only, he had misplaced the book amidst many house moves. Little did Shanbag know that finding the text and acquiring its rights would be an adventure in itself, taking him on a virtual journey from a bookstore in Spain to Oxford to Los Angeles, and finally culminating at a second-hand bookshop in a small town in British Columbia, Canada. It's here he'd get a lead to Hay's son, Peter, who had translated the play into English and from whom he'd finally obtain the rights. 'He was happy that we had made this effort,' says Shanbag. PULL OF SATIRE: Julius Hay's The Horse looks at the 'absurd circus of power' Transporting audiences to significant events and different periods and compelling them to think is what Shanbag himself has been doing for nearly five decades now with his company, Arpana. Plays like Sex, Morality & Censorship, Cotton 56, Polyester 84 and Stories in Song are among the works that have added to the 68-year-old's aura. Shanbag stands out as someone who has used his clout to help others in an industry where survival is a daily struggle. He set up Tamaasha Theatre a decade back to address an urgent need. Says Shanbag, 'I felt that, as Arpana's scale grew, spontaneity and impulsive exploration were becoming difficult. I was also uncomfortable with not having a relationship with the audience. The idea was to build a system where a connection could be built.' Producing plays under the banner of Tamaasha has allowed Shanbag to do that with works like Same, Same, but Different, which while low on scale, are heavy on ideas. With Studio Tamaasha, an alternative space in Mumbai, he has given a platform to theatre practitioners to showcase their work. 'It's a lot easier for someone like me to make a play; we have built a corpus and have a standing. But it's hard for a young theatre practitioner even today to make a play,' says Shanbag. 'Those who have a body of work need to step up and create support systems for young theatre creators.' In addition, for the past two years, Shanbag has headed Us Paar, a residency for creators in Kashid, Maharashtra, which has given a refuge to many theatre groups, and now even artists, to create new works. Amidst it all, Shanbag remains prolific. His 2024 work Barricade, set in Nazi Germany yet eerily relevant today, continues to have shows. Still, he admits being seized by 'more and more self-doubt. There's an inner turmoil of anyone who creates stuff. I don't think I have adapted. It's a crisis I will have to confront very soon.' It's perhaps this insecurity that compels him to create, to carry on, to get out of the bubble. With The Horse, he gets to do exactly that. 'It's important to occupy the mainstream space,' he says. Only, in Shanbag's case, the mainstream isn't just playing to the gallery, but intellectually engaging to India Today Magazine- Ends
Hindustan Times
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
A spoof on Caligula's quirks and streaks of violence
MUMBAI: Theatre director Sunil Shanbag has a penchant for staging historical and semi-historical incidents to put the spotlight on contemporary times. Last year, he produced and directed the Utpal Dutt-written 'Barricade', which exposed Hitler's strategies for winning majority votes through a ruthless crushing of dissenters and a well-oiled propaganda machinery. This year, Shanbag will be showcasing 'The Horse', for Aadyam Theatre, an Aditya Birla Group initiative, which spoofs the Roman emperor Caligula's idiosyncrasies and streaks of violence. 'The Horse' is based on Hungarian playwright Julius Hay's play by the same name, written in 1962. A spoof on Caligula's quirks and streaks of violence Shanbag first read Hay's play in 1982 and, ever since, he has wanted to stage it but did not have the means earlier for mounting the large-scale production. 'The play struck me as a wonderful example of a biting satire, lampooning authoritative absurdity, blind sycophancy and the complicity of the elite; and I am very happy that I am able to stage it now,' he states, during a break in a rehearsal. Senior actor Akash Khurana, who essays the role of Caligula, says power and neurosis are the operative words for him are to understand the psyche of a man who has been looked upon differently by different people. Both characteristics are evident at the rehearsal, where his boot-licking coterie are seen horsing around, encouraging his mad ventures. Galloping across the floor to Kaizad Gherda's lively music, Caligula's sycophants celebrate the appointment of a horse that the whimsical emperor won in gambling, as Consul. Ridiculous obsequiousness is taken to another level when one toady suggests they should get the best of mares to please the new Consul. What is the play's relevance in today's times? 'History keeps repeating itself, so the play resonates with the audience in whichever period authoritarianism asserts itself,' replies Shanbag. 'Hay was responding to the occupation of East Europe by the USSR, while my version of his play, today, reflects a global phenomenon. I think the situation all over the world today is very scary and it is important to respond to that.' According to Shanbag, the horse in the play could stand for anything or anybody. 'The idea is to show something or someone as so sacred that it loses all perspective. The play is about our willingness to totally suspend rationality,' he states. While dramatists like William Shakespeare have depicted power-hungry figures through tragedies, Shanbag has chosen to present Caligula through a farcical comedy. 'I think contemporary theatre does not have enough comedies to project serious subjects,' he observes. 'But comedy can be a very powerful means of saying something important. 'The Horse' is a crazy, over-the-top comedy that tells a semi-fictitious, historical story to understand current times. Using humour and satire, it sharply dissects the absurdity of a world hurtling towards chaos.' Accentuating the underlying satire of the play are its songs, written by Asif Ali Beg who says it was a challenge for him to write them. 'I had not worked in the genre of political satire before this,' he points out. But discussions with Shanbag and background reading helped him to deliver just what was required. So, even in a tipsy scene in a tavern, the tipplers mouth words about Rome's decline. Written in limerick form, the song combines the lightness of a drunken ambience with the sharpness of satire. Putting Beg's words to music is Kaizad Gherda who has also composed the background score for some of the scenes. 'What I have composed is both grand and playful, mirroring the grandeur that was Rome and the farce that plays out against it,' shares Gherda. Adding to the entertainment quotient are choreographers and movement directors Shampa Gopikrishna and Bertwin Ravi Dsouza. 'After detailed discussions with Shanbag and watching some rehearsals we got an idea of the style, aesthetics and pulse of the play. After that we created movements and choreographed dances that would be most effective in conveying the spirited mood of the play,' they explain. This entailed studying the basic anatomy, movement pattern and nuances of a horse as well as conducting workshops with the cast in raw physical movement and dance. 'Thereafter, we let the actors play around with horse movements, letting them fuse their own style with it. It has been a lot of fun. There is a very challenging sequence of an entire horse race which the audience sees through the eyes and expressions of the actors who make it come alive,' add the duo. ('The Horse' will be staged at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Bandra, on August 9 and 10.)
India Today
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Horsing around
In a tiny, sparse studio in Versova with no props and sets, theatre director Sunil Shanbag is busy imagining first-century Rome. There's some neighing and galloping, a bit of singing, and excitable parents who want to marry their daughter off to a horse. Shanbag watches, giving directions to actors like Akash Khurana and Neil Bhoopalam on entry and exits, bringing to life Hungarian playwright Julius Hay's The Horse.
