Seven Steps around the Fire , livre ebook

Mahesh Dattani
Seven Steps around the Fire A Stage Play

PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
About the Author
Seven Steps around the Fire A Stage Play
Copyright
PENGUIN BOOKS
COLLECTED PLAYS VOLUME TWO
Mahesh Dattani, born in Bangalore on 7 August 1958 studied in Baldwin s High School and St. Joseph s College of Arts and Science, Bangalore.
He has worked as a copywriter in an advertising firm and subsequently with his father in the family business. His theatre group Playpen was formed in 1984, and he has directed several plays for them, ranging from classical Greek to contemporary works. In 1986, he wrote his first full-length play, Where There s a Will , and from 1995, he has been working full-time in theatre. In 1998, he set up his own theatre studio dedicated to training and showcasing new talents in acting, directing and stage writing, the first in the country to specifically focus on new works.
Dattani is also a film-maker and his films have been screened in India and abroad to critical and public acclaim. His film Dance Like a Man has won the award for the Best Picture in English awarded by the National Panorama.
In 1998, Dattani won the Sahitya Akademi award for his book of plays Final Solutions and Other Plays , published by East-West Books Chennai, thus becoming the first English language playwright to win the award.
Dattani teaches theatre courses at the summer sessions programme of Portland State University, Oregon, USA, and conducts workshops regularly at his studio and elsewhere. He also writes plays for BBC Radio 4.
He lives in Bangalore.
Seven Steps around the Fire
A Stage Play

A Synopsis of the Play
Uma Rao, daughter of the Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University, is married to Chief Superintendent Suresh Rao, who has high expectations of succeeding his father as Police Commissioner. But it is Uma, a postgraduate student of sociology, who is the sleuth in this relationship, and using rather unconventional means she uncovers the truth behind a brutal murder in the city s hijra community.
When Kamla, one of the hijra sisterhood, is murdered, the police assume that Anarkali (another hijra) is the murderer.
But with the tentative help of Constable Munswamy (briefed by her husband to keep her out of trouble) Uma infiltrates the hijra community and unravels a thread of corruption and cover-up that leads right back to the cream of Bangalore society.
Jeremy Mortimer (Jeremy Mortimer is Executive Producer, BBC Radio Drama.)
The stage version of Seven Steps around the Fire , adapted from the radio play of the same title by the author, was first performed at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on 10 July 2004. The production was directed by the author and produced by Vivek Mansukhani for Scene Stealers.
Cast for production: UMA RAO Tillotama Shome SURESH RAO Dhruv Jagasia CONSTABLE MUNSWAMY Vijay Singh ANARKALI Daman CHAMPA Danish Iqbal SALIM Ankur Bhardwaj MR SHARMA Jagmohan Bhasin SUBBU SHARMA Imran Khan KAMLA Sheena Bhalla SUBBU S BRIDE Rahya Kardam HIJRA ENSEMBLE Lohit Jagwani Sundeep Sharma Rohit Kaul Gobind Bhoot Company Siddhartha Mishra Kunal Pruthi Anant Dwivedi Understudy for Uma Rao Vandana Mohindra Director Mahesh Dattani Producer Vivek Mansukhani Sets Design Lucia King Aditee Biswas Smita Bharti Sets Fabrication Bunty Lighting Design Jaspreet Uppal Sound Design Kabir Singh Choreography Gilles Chuyen Assistant to Director Shalini Singh Assistant to Producer Jigar Mehta Production Team Revathy Venkataraman Anant Dwivedi Rahya Kardam Siddhartha Mishra Kunal Pruthi Costumes Varun Narain Assisted by Amritha Venkataraman Malavika Talukder Vandana Mohindra Make-up and Hair Deepak Johri Poster Design Siddhartha Das Photography Serena Chopra Vandana Sood Publicity Krishna Omkar Acknowledgements Parul Sehgal Nicholas Kharkongor Vidyun Singh Srilata Prabhakar Renu Oberoi Shahdab Sunil Rawat Neha Hora Pramuch Goel HT City Indian Express Outlook India Today The Financial Express The Asian Age First City The Hindu Madhureeta Anand Negi Old World Culture India Habitat Centre Hutch
ACT I
A composite set comprising levels and gauze curtains which could be back lit to reveal interiors or drawn aside when needed. Props should be minimal and scenes need to move without too many black outs .
Sanskrit mantras fade in, the ones chanted during a Hindu wedding. The crackle of fire. We see a beautiful woman in a bridal outfit enter. The crackle from the fire grows louder. She screams and tries to run but is now on fire. She rolls on the ground. Her screams turn silent as sounds of the mantras and flames take over .
Black out .
Interior. The office of the Superintendent of Police.
We see Uma Rao, a young woman in her mid-twenties looking around, waiting for someone to come in. She looks at some files on the table. She hears footsteps approaching and quickly shuts the file and sits down .
A young police constable Munswamy enters .
MUNSWAMY . You may see the hijra now if you wish, Madam.
UMA . Will she talk to me?
MUNSWAMY (chuckling) . She! Of course it will talk to you. We will beat it up if it doesn t.
UMA . Please don t. If she doesn t wish to talk to me, I will-it s okay. Don t force her.
MUNSWAMY . Madam, if you don t mind me saying, why is a lady from a respectable family like yourself . . .?
UMA . What? Wish to see someone like her?
Munswamy feels a little awkward. He speaks after a while .
MUNSWAMY . There are so many other cases. All murder cases. Man killing wife, wife killing man s lover, brother killing brother. And that shelf is full of dowry death cases. Shall I ask the peon to dust all these files?
UMA . No. Maybe some other time. I think this particular one is of interest to me right now.
MUNSWAMY . If you don t mind me saying, what is the use of talking with it?
UMA . Why not?
MUNSWAMY . It will only tell you lies.
UMA . How do you know?
MUNSWAMY . I know.
UMA . How?
MUNSWAMY . I am telling you I know.
UMA . You don t. You don t know for sure.
MUNSWAMY (resigning) . I will bring her.
UMA (stopping him) . No!
MUNSWAMY (turning around) . You don t want to meet her? Very good Madam. I . . .
UMA . Can I meet her in there?
MUNSWAMY (shocked) . Madam!
UMA . I would like to meet her where you have kept her.
MUNSWAMY . But Sir will not like it if you go there!
UMA . I will handle that.
Fade out. Quick fade in .
A prison cell. A whole group of inmates banging plates. Some are pulling down one person whom we don t see. Another stands in front and begins to undo his pants to get a blow job done from the one who is down. He yells in pain .
INMATE 1. Owwwww! It bit me! ... I will teach you! Down!
He begins to bit the person. Banging of metal plates on the floor. Quite a din. Munswamy enters with a hesitant Uma behind him. Munswamy runs his stick on the bars of the prison .
MUNSWAMY . Quiet! Quiet! Quiet I say! You sons of . . . loafers. Do you know who this madam is? She is the daughter-in-law of the Deputy Commissioner and the wife of our Superintendent!
Silence .
(Tapping on bars with his stick.) Now come on, come on. Do namaskara to madam.
Silence .
UMA . Er-namaskara.
A chorus of meek namaskars .
MUNSWAMY . Madam, once again I request you to take up some other case. Look at this man. He cut off his wife s nose. He will give you an interesting story.
UMA . I would like to meet Anarkali.
Titters from the prisoners .
Where is she?
MUNSWAMY . Ai! Anarkali! Come here.
ANARKALI (from far) . No! I don t want to meet any journalist.
MUNSWAMY . I will come inside and beat you up, you worthless pig!
ANARKALI . I am not in the mood.
UMA . I am not a journalist.
ANARKALI . I don t care if you are the mother of all the whores in Bangalore, I said I am not in the mood!
MUNSWAMY . Why do you want to bring this shame on your family Madam? I beg of you go home.
UMA . Anarkali! Please, help me.
ANARKALI . Go away. After servicing all these sons of whores, my mouth is too tired to talk.
UMA . God!
MUNSWAMY (in tears) . Madam! I beg of you! If Sir finds out I let you in here, he will have me transferred!
Silence .
UMA . All right. Perhaps I better look at some other . . . case.
MUNSWAMY . Yes! Come Madam, you can sit comfortably in the office. Will you like some tea or Pepsi?
ANARKALI . Wait! (Approaching.) Are you really the wife of the big police officer? Or is this man lying so I will talk to you?
MUNSWAMY . Go away. Madam is no longer interested in your filthy lies.
ANARKALI . I didn t kill her. She was my sister!
MUNSWAMY (hitting the bars with his stick) . Ai! Go back! (Hitting harder.) Back!
ANARKALI . Would you kill your sister?
MUNSWAMY (hitting the bars) . Back! Beat it! Kick the hijra!
The other inmates begin to beat Anarkali up .
ANARKALI (hitting back at first). Ai! Don t touch me!
The other inmates scream with pleasure as they beat up Anarkali .
Aaagh! Aaaagh!
UMA (her voice almost drowned by the anarchy) . Stop! Stop it!
Uma runs out. Munswamy watches as Anarkali gets beaten up .
Fade out .
Interior. The bedroom of Suresh and Uma.
Suresh is in his night clothes, a lungi and T-shirt. He is on the bed, cleaning his gun. Uma is folding his uniform. Her nightie is on a chair .
UMA . Why did they put her in a male prison?
SURESH . Who?
UMA . Anarkali.
SURESH . That is just the sort of name a hijra would fancy. (Chuckling.) Anarkali!
UMA . Suresh, why is she in a cell with men?
SURESH . They are as strong as horses.
Uma picks up the nightie .
Wear the purple one.
UMA . I wore that last night.
SURESH . Again.
Uma takes the nightie to the cupboard. She turns around .