Review: DEATH AND THE MAIDEN at National Centre for Performing Arts Mumbai
NCPA's latest psychological thriller
There is something deeply contrarian about stepping out on a very very hot summer day to watch a very very serious play - I am beginning to think summers belong to humor. Winters can allow some pondering and occasional deep-dives into the horrors of the past. Despite looking for joy, I wound up catching an early evening production of Death and the Maiden at Mumbai’s NCPA, directed by NCPA head Bruce Guthrie, starring Ira Dubey, Neil Bhoopalam and Vivek Gomber.
For context, Death and the Maiden is a 1990 play, written by the Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman - taking an intimate look at the life of a husband and wife at the center of the political transition of a Latin-American country from dictatorship to democracy. The couple (played by Ira Dubey and Vivek Gomber) is tormented and affected by a past of political torture. The play explores the difficult task of moving on, especially when the personal has been so political. However, the play doesn’t sit with solemnity alone, it introduces a handsome intruder (Neil Bhoopalam) to jolt us out of easy conclusions.
Death and the Maiden is ingenious in its conception - its thrilling, stylish, resplendent with gallows humor and definitely an entertainer, despite its very dark themes. Guthrie sticks to the script, and fleshes out the three charismatic characters. There is little to no change in themes or setting of the play - instead the light and sound intensify existing tensions. The mise-en-scene is built to create the noir aesthetic, from high-contrast chiaroscuro lighting to tightly isolated character spotlights. My favorite were the blue-light effects of a beach house at the start, making the setting crystal clear.
Of course a play named after Schubert’s music, hosted at the NCPA, home to the Symphony Orchestra of India, was bound to have a sonorous finale. Schubert’s Death and the Maiden is a leitmotif used throughout the play, chronicling Paulina’s grief. The finale makes the audience sit with grief, watching Paulina watch the orchestra and wonder, how does one ever move on from violence?
I enjoyed this production greatly and had no notes for the crew. I was immersed in the dialogue, seduced by Ira’s delivery and anticipating Gomber’s consolations. A split-second moment of Bhoopalam shifting from a fierce predator to desperate hostage during his monologue was tremendous. All elements of the production played an astounding role in enlarging and shrinking his character, changing the viewers judgement of the “truth” of the play ever so quickly.
Director: Bruce Guthrie
Cast: Ira Dubey (Paulina Salas), Vivek Gomber (Gerardo Escobar), Neil Bhoopalam (Roberto Miranda)
Movement and intimacy coordinator: Emilia Cadenasso
Set designer: Simon Kenny
Composer: Andrew T. Mackay
Sound designer: Rahul Nadkarni
Lighting designer: Yael Crishna and Arghya Lahiri
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