Disturbing and Pschyotic
(c) 2007 Puja Goyal
Publication: Bangalore Mirror
Black Coffee Productions unleashed Forty five minutes of hell and confusion with the production of the play "The Undertaker" by Loy Saldanha and directed by Preetam Koilpillai. It took the disoriented audience a while to understand what was happening on stage, as Abhishek Majumdar took stage as "The Undertaker". The solo act started with a haunting song sung by Abhishek, which set a very mellow and lingering ambience to the later part of the show. However, it was not enough to give the play some sort of sanity and structure.
"The Undertaker" is a summary of a lonely life that is constantly yearning for a friend. The actor puts forth his desperate need for a friend at every opportunity available to him throughout the play. It revolves around the idea that every individual wants his existence to be acknowledged. The play showed very explicitly; the constant degeneration of the human mind as it attempts to become an individual. The individual is not only a summary of his own existence, but a summary of the existence of "the others" in his life; as such destined to be complete or incomplete depending on the impact of the forces surrounding him.
The play moved desperately between the childhood, youth and later years of "The Undertaker" and what remains for the Undertaker to recollect from. Although the concept of the play was genuine and heartfelt, it seemed at times, a little disillusioning, vulgar, over the top and glazed with sexual implications. As the play proceeds, "The Undertaker" speaks of the girl he thought he should have raped but did not. He speaks vividly of his fantasies of pulling the red laced see through knickers of the girl apart, biting into her skin and tearing her clothes to shreds. He speaks of the day he could have finally satisfied his sexual desires through her, if only he had found the courage.
"The Undertaker" also tells the audience about the only German girlfriend he had and who left him without even giving him a final "f*ck", and the numerous individuals he had approached in his neighborhood, the strangers he bought drinks for and the prostitutes he visited and paid for; all in the desperate hope of finding a friend.
Weird and troubling, were the parts where "The Undertaker" reminisces about his childhood. Looking almost on the verge of madness, "The Undertaker" goes back to his childhood and starts reciting a Hindi poem… "Machli jal ki rani hai…." as his eyes move around in desperation, piercing through the darkness amongst the crowd. The audience by then is hoping and praying that "The Undertaker" stays on stage instead of even attempting to approach them.
The stage was certainly set for an experience of the psychedelic tangled with a shot of LSD at the Alliance Françoise de Bangalore on the 8th, 10th and 11th of December, 2007. Be warned that the play is not for the chemically sane and individuals who require constant medical supervision, unless of course they are high already.
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