Operas

Operas have always had a sense of grandeur surrounding them. Huge tapestries, lavish settings, symphony like orchestra with the choir master, sopranos, violins et al are what we visualize of an opera. We imagine them to be set in eloquence and opulence which is only accessible to the elite. What Jeet Thayil and Suman Sridhar have done is that they have executed a creation which is the exact opposite notion of the operas we relate to. They bring us ‘Opera Noir’, a conversation between a ghost and a soprano which is currently being showcased at the ongoing Prithvi Theatre festival. It is not like that they planned it in such a manner but are happy that the final product eventually turned out this way.

“It all started as a seven minute sequence of poetry and music”, says Jeet who along with Suman came up with Opera noir a year ago. They didn’t find the time to work on it then due to work and other commitments. Then presentation of the poem at the poetry festival at Prithvi triggered off the conceptualization of the poem into play. “Sanjana Kapoor really liked the poem and she asked us to develop it into a play”, says Jeet who was then convinced by Kapoor to expand it. “You can never so ‘no’ to Sanjana”, says Jeet.

Jeet, a poet, guitarist and an author of four books met Suman towards the end of 2007 in Bangalore. Sharing a lot in common they built their music band under the banner of Sridhar/Thayil which is known as brand of urban grime that concocts sweet jazz vocals with mean gravelly talk over wailing blues guitar and electronic back beats. Suman Sridhar is a singer, actor, and songwriter who grew up in Mumbai with Carnatic and Hindustani classical music and studied Western classical music in NJ, USA.

Opera Noir is set in the city of Bombay (Mumbai). The Indian twist is the choice of location and the dark aspect of it refers to the dialogue between the ghost and soprano. There are interesting conversations between the two on God, murder and showbiz. Why choose these three as the base of a conversation? “In this case they have chosen me”, says Jeet. The play begins with a death scene which revolves the murder aspect where the partner is blamed for the death and accused of murder. Both the characters question God and demand for an explanation of the turnout of the events happening. The play explores the possibilities on matters of love and deception.

The setting of the play is contemporary according to Thayil and Sridhar. “There was no budget, no orchestra, no live musicians and everything was done by two the people involved in it”, says Jeet who along with Suman worked out on the minutest details involving all the aspects of a play. Jeet calls it a ‘homemade production’. He also opines about the fact that Operas are restricted only to the rich and a privileged few. The concept of such a thing doesn’t even exist among the masses and this production got down to bringing opera to a common man’s psyche.

For now it is a forty five minute venture and Jeet plans to expand it into a bigger and fuller version exploring new possibilities. Jeet is very happy with this year’s ongoing festival at Prithvi. “Prithvi has grown into a precious theatre resource and is open to new things. The core of Prithvi stands for the youth and novelty which is extremely important for our generation”, says Jeet. He is particularly impressed with ‘The Elephant project’ a production from Kerala He is currently busy with the final draft of his novel which is again set in Bombay and talks about the low life of drug addicts, prostitutes and people who always live on the darker side of this city. He wants to create a sense of respect for them through his novel.

Published on 21st November,2009 in The Asian Age