Clearing the Rubble,a dramatic reading, Moonbeam Factory Theatre

The cast of the dramatic play welcomes you with their costume at the beloved Pagdandi Books Chai Cafe in Baner.Moonbeam Factory Theatre, a local theatre company, who celebrate their first anniversary this month; are doing a dramatic reading of a radio play,” Clearing the Rubble” by Mahesh Dattani. Even before the play started , I thought of ‘Final Solutions’ which I happened to watch a couple of years back by the playwright. What kept coming back to my mind is the “powerful” impact of the play which has a communal context and driving music. The reading of a radio play is a first in Pune and the execution of it by Moonbeam Factory Theatre explored the medium of voice in storytelling.Watching a play allows you to focus on the sight, sound and gesture of the body . In a radio play you focus mostly on the voice which is a new experience altogether. The cast used the voices in the reading very well, which comprised of Srijan Dubey as Salim, Angad Patwardhan as Jeffrey and Divya Mangwani as Fatima. Also to be in the costume and not make many gestures also adds to the dramatic element, as you expect action but what mostly comes out is the voice. ‘Clearing the Rubble’ is set in Gujarat 2001 when an English journalist is going to Bhuj after a massive earthquake to track a boy he met during the relief efforts. The story that the mother has to share is poignant, like her wails “Allah!Both my daughters are with you now. I am coming too.”Rubble, meagre shelters and food packets describe the landscape. Jeffrey approaches a crib rocked by a mother only to find there is no baby in it. He is confused if to help as a journalist or not, but he atleast wants to try, even trying will appear as help. Even through the turmoil Fatimah assures herself by saying,” The mosque is all right! Oh! We are fortunate! Everything will be fine soon. Everything will be like before.” Faith still gave hope in the land and it becomes even more sensitive in such an incident. The play and the dramatic reading by the cast was such a gem of an experience. Do look out for more by Moonbeam Factory Theatre and their upcoming one-minute play festival, Zoom! Cast: Srijan Dubey, Angad Patwardhan, Divya Mangwani Sound Effects: Saeesh Mangwani