If it was a woman’s world

The Fifth Woman after being freed from everything by death

It's midnight, and the winter chills have set in. A woman who is unconscious and frothing at the mouth has been rushed to the hospital. Two men who are later identified as Sakharam and Dawood have accompanied her. This is the opening scene of His Fifth Woman, the first play that the celebrated Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar wrote in English. Director Lokesh Varma and his team at Darakht Theatre Company, have just taken a break from rehearsals ahead of their performance on Thursday when we ask him why he chose one of Tendulkar's lesser-known works instead of the more popular, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe, Sakharam Binder or Ghashiram Kotwal.

"I have been a reader of Marathi plays, and Vijay Tendulkar has been one of my favourite playwrights. His works had an interesting take on the identity of a woman in Indian society. His Fifth Woman is a sequel to his famous play Sakharam Binder. This was written in 2004 specifically for the Vijay Tendulkar Festival in New York, and it's one of the plays he wrote in less than two weeks," says Varma.

Vijay Tendulkar

In the 1972 play, Sakharam, a bookbinder, picks up women who have either been left by their husbands or are divorced or widowed and offers them shelter in his house along with food and clothing and in return, expects the woman to fulfil his physical needs and look after the domestic duties of the house. According to Sakharam the women are free to leave whenever they like. He even promised to give them a sari, R50, and a ticket to wherever they wanted to go. But not everything is as it seems.

"Sakharam is a sort of tyrant while his best friend Dawood is soft-hearted and God-fearing. Whether it is this play or Sakharam Binder, both are still relevant in Indian society today. The play graphically describes the injustices and inequalities suffered by women in this male-dominated world. It's not a full-length play, it's just four acts.

Dawood in conversation with Sakharam

"As a team, we have divided the design of the play into two parts. While there is one part that reflects reality, we have used shadow play extensively in the later acts that speak about the afterlife," Varma explains. "The play looks at what happens to the woman after she dies and is at the gates of heaven. She meets Chitragupt, and talks about what she had wanted to do in her life. As per Hindu rituals, a meal is served to the crows after the prayers for the departed soul have been performed. When the crows eat the food, it is said that the soul will then rest in peace. In this case, the crows don't eat the food that is served after the fifth woman's last rights have been performed, because of her unfulfilled wishes. The crows also become important characters in the section where we show the afterlife," he adds.

The hour-long play casts Swati Patel as the Fifth Woman, Deep Shah as Sakharam, Ayush Dhar as Dawood, Malikka Advani and Soi Chiro as crows, and Rohit Khanna and Akash Mohanty in other key roles. The Darakht Theatre Company has performed many of Tendulkar's works earlier. This performance will be the first time they attempt the playwright's English works.

Sakharam, Dawood and Pandit performing the last rites of the Fifth Woman, (right) Sakharam playing his favourite musical instrument, mridangam

ON February 29, 7.30 pm
AT Creative Adda, 191, Aaram Nagar Part 2, Versova, Andheri West.
LOG ON TO in.bookmyshow.com
ENTRY Rs 200