Patient
Director:
Suraj Parasnis
Writer:
Raviraj Gandhe & Siddhesh Purkar
Suraj Parasnis
Writer:
Raviraj Gandhe & Siddhesh Purkar
Synopsis:
This is a story of a last stage Cancer Patient and the last days of his life. This play depicts his mental condition during this period. His numerous emotions and the fact that death is just round the corner have been portrayed in this play.
The name of the lead character of this play is Arun Deshpande who is just 22 years old. He is grief stricken by the fact that he has Liver Cancer. He comes from a middle class family in Pune. His relation with his family members, his brother and his parents can be seen in this play. He has been lying on that bed for quite a long time and the play shows how he gets entangled even with small things to divert his attention from the acute pains and his solitude. Instead of portraying his external factors, the play focuses on the internal emotions and his thought process. He observes the acute pains he suffers independently as a third person and various monologues can be seen in this situation. This play is basically based in the year 1977-78 because the family members then, were more emotionally attached to each other as compared to the current era and there was not much of a medical advancement back then. There existed an altogether different emotional attachment as compared to the current materialistic world. The use of some theatrical devices to depict his darting pain has been made in this play.
The name of the lead character of this play is Arun Deshpande who is just 22 years old. He is grief stricken by the fact that he has Liver Cancer. He comes from a middle class family in Pune. His relation with his family members, his brother and his parents can be seen in this play. He has been lying on that bed for quite a long time and the play shows how he gets entangled even with small things to divert his attention from the acute pains and his solitude. Instead of portraying his external factors, the play focuses on the internal emotions and his thought process. He observes the acute pains he suffers independently as a third person and various monologues can be seen in this situation. This play is basically based in the year 1977-78 because the family members then, were more emotionally attached to each other as compared to the current era and there was not much of a medical advancement back then. There existed an altogether different emotional attachment as compared to the current materialistic world. The use of some theatrical devices to depict his darting pain has been made in this play.
Writer's Note:
As a child I closely witnessed the journey of a cancer patient which had a profound impact on me. However I never imagined that this experience would ever result in me writing a play like ‘Patient’.Once as I was flipping through the pages of a Marathi magazine called ‘Satyakatha’ I stumbled upon a story by Raviraj Gandhe. It was about a cancer patient. This story is the inspiration of this play.The idea of a play triggered my imagination and allowed me to explore various possibilities. I started making a few changes in the original story and eventually realized that unknowingly had developed an entirely new plot.We hear heart wrenching stories of cancer patients and their families. I often wondered; what exactly goes on in the mind of these patients? Apart from the physical pain, how do they deal with their emotional upheaval? Knowing that their end is near, how do they face each day? The psyche of these cancer patients intrigued me.Happiness and sadness are often, easily assessed. But what about Pain and Suffering? Why do we run away from it, knowing that they are inevitable? This play is an attempt to understand these innumerable emotions ranging from hope to helplessness and also the relentless battle against cancer, of not just the patient but also their loved ones. ‘Patient’ is the dramatization of one such journey.
Director's Note:
As a director it was challenging enough to present a thing which is built under such a strong negative dome of death. Also to narrate such a story whose end is already known or predictable enough. The only thing we did to tackle this was by making each situation, each scene convincing enough, trying to maintain the genuine tone of the play. We have done our best to make the play visually strong – right from showing cancer cells quixotically in human form, playing with the point of views by giving a top view and also taking help of projectors to some extent. Also a lot of practical research like meeting some doctors for insights, giving visits together as a team to some hospitals which helped the actors for their characters, going through films like ‘Cries and Whispers’, ‘Anand’ etc. helped us a lot. I can definitely say that I was very fortunate as a director to get an opportunity to handle such a subject with a very competent team of actors and technicians who helped in taking this play to an unforeseen height.
Cast List: |
Credit List: |
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Sound Design : Ketan Pawar, Snehal Bhave Light Design : Kunal Sardeshpande Costumes : Devika Kale, Akshaya Deodhar Set Design : Ravi Choudhary Make-up : Ashish Deshpande Production Head : Mahesh Talpe Production Manager : Ravi Choudhary |
