Manjari Kaul – A One Woman Show
New Delhi:Sunday saw a packed audience at Instituto Cervantes, where Improper Fractions and Instituto Cervantes with the collaboration of Delhi International Arts Festival organized a play, an adaptation of ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
It was a one woman show starring Manjari Kaul, who made us all gasp with her portrayal of different characters in the play. She was also the narrator of the story.
The most striking thing about her acting was how fluidly she managed to switch roles within moments and played each character distinctly.
The story of the novella is based upon an incident of a young girl losing her virginity, and the retrieval of that honor. The murder of Santiago Nasar is what follows, but it is no spoiler, because, the whole village is aware of the deed even before it is committed.
It is like an account of the interviews and perspectives of different characters of the village.
Manjari Kaul – Caught in the act
The performance was a cocktail of a narrative and the first person accounts. The best thing about it is the irregularity and the loopholes created by the stories of the characters, which make it seem even more real. There are also parts where the characters, all played by Ms. Kaul brilliantly- try to recollect some instances, in the past, which again, makes the whole story seem really authentic and unique in its own genre. The fear, the upsurge of emotions and sometimes the dread of the ghosts of the past in the play, is what kept the whole audience mesmerized.
But after the play is over, we realize that it is not just the story, but also the sheer brilliance of Manjari Kaul which made it look like everything was happening in front of us, inspite of any physical sets. All was done with a handful of props like a rectangular metal frame, a box, a curtain-like cloth which served from being a veil, a skirt, the torso of the slaughtered Pigs, to a rope. The beauty of the whole play relied on the looks of simplicity and the complexity of the thoughts, with triggering imagery.
