Esperanza means Hope in Spanish, signifying that it is the hope which drives the world. IndraDhanush Theater Group, their upcoming show, portrays how hope helps us put our endeavors to make our lives better.
This show is a wide collection of 4 short plays, each of 25 minutes, hope stands out to be the winner. Stories revolve around victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, LGBT identities, Freedom of speech and expression, and the newly launched GST taxation system in India. The show has taken a comic and satirical approach to each and every subject. The core objective is to motivate the spectators to believe in hope and re-ignite the spark even in one person.
Playright and Composer Gaurav Nigam says, “All of us have witnessed different stories, but what is that one driving force that keeps us going and makes us believe that the world will change for the better? Keeping this in mind, I came up with these four plays, where no matter what happens the protagonist in each play finally believes in certain hope.”
With 4 plays, 4 directors, 5 production team members, 4 music team members, 4 promotion team members, 36 actors and 1 playwright, the message that the play wants to send is to help people identify with various issues in society, how positively and hopefully, they can tackle them. Gaurav adds, “We have to stick to our values and things will change for the better.” The play is unique because it has four short plays within it —Ban Voyage, Muaawza, Ghosted and +GST. The stories that this team has focused on over the years are realistic and inspired by real life and contemporary issues.
Ban Voyage
This play talks about the issues that Bengaluru is facing. Director Neha Mehta says, “This play talks about how the voice of people is unheard, infrastructure issues and a lot things that are prevalent in the society, irrespective of what we may see as outdated. As a society, there are issues which are not expressed. It brings together people from different streams who share their concern.”
Muaazwa
Based on the struggles of the victims of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, Assistant Director Aleesha Agarwal elaborates, “In a way, we tend to undermine the impact or seriousness of a tragedy and more importantly, the aftermath. This play helps bring across this fact to the people to become more aware of the tragedy and the Indian political system that doesn’t make it easier for victims.”
Ghosted
The play is about youngsters, the virtual world and dating apps. Sanjana DM, the Director explains, “This play deals with issues of identity, and how people are categorized based on this identity. This play forces the characters to look into themselves, to accept themselves, and others too.”
+GST
As the name itself suggests, it talks about all the things that are confusing about the system of GST. Ameya Moghe, who essays a Professor’s role says, “Although this concept has been around for a few months, this is the first time it’s being portrayed in a creative manner. It’s a funny satirical take on GST, and its impact, execution and confusion.”
Along with this, Author Vinaya Bhagat came up on stage to talk to the audience about her recently launched debut novel The Trickster. She talked about how her character of the book Diya Mathur loses her parents in an accident followed by world collapsing around her. Moving from Boston to India also brings Diya closer to the place where the horror of the Chakwa – the Master Trickster. Will the monster that ruined her parents’ life now destroy Diya’s happiness? Or will she manage to defeat him? The show started with a small skit representing the story of The Trickster along with few people from the audience.
The play will be staged for 2 days – 21st and 22nd April 2018 (4.00 pm and 7.00 pm) at the Rangasthala, Rangoli Metro Art Centre.
Actors asscociated with the production: Suresh Sharma, Neha Mehta, Sukruth Nair, Prabh Sharan, Govind, Adit Abraham, Bhagyashree, Lakshya, Indu, Aleesha Agarwal, Shahzia Khan, Shrey Chakravorty, Imran Pasha, Rajat Mishra, Charit Mahajan, Karan Haritwar, Praveshika Katiyar, Mounica Sreesai, Arijt Srivastava, Asmita Das, Arth, Rituporno Gogoi, Sanjana DM, Aloka Chatterjea, Shirley, Amit Anshu, Hari, Kapil Deep, Arimita Mishra, Mahesh Hegde, Amey Moghe, Aritro Biswas, Shashank, Abhinav Gupta, Ankita Pal and Rudresh.
The Human Spices 
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