The much-awaited Serious Men by the Madras Players had its national premiere last night at the Museum Theatre. It was directed and adapted from Manu Joseph’s critically acclaimed, award-winning satirical novel of the same name, by Nikhila Kesavan. Kesavan’s adaptation is entirely faithful to the novel and works on stage, despite being slightly long.
Serious Men is the story of a brilliant Brahmin astrophysicist Aravind Acharya and his incredibly street-smart, wily and ambitious Dalit assistant, Ayyan Mani at the highly prestigious Institute of Theory and Research. Ayyan seeks refuge from the festering frustration of his dreary life in Mumbai’s chawls in what are initially small, harmless games like faking quotes from famous people that take digs at Brahmin chauvinism on the institute’s “Thought for the Day” board or coaching his ten-year old son to ask questions in class that were well beyond the capacity of a child. As the story unfolds, Ayyan’s games escalate, the great scientist takes a wrong step or two and their destinies become intertwined.
Madras Players veteran P C Ram’s portrayal of the cantankerous, absent-minded Aravind Acharya was absolutely brilliant. It was nuanced and convincing, and listening to Joseph’s witty, insightful lines come to life in that powerful voice was a sheer delight. He was evenly matched by Sarvesh Sridhar whose compelling performance as Acharya’s assistant Ayyan was clearly a hit with the audience, evoking much laughter and sympathy. The rest of the cast however, failed to make much of an impression. Oparna Ghosmalik’s character – an intelligent young female scientist, led astray by Acharya’s charisma, played by Smrithi Parameshwar fell particularly flat. In the novel, Oparna is a dynamic, complex individual who happens to make a few dubious choices while on stage, she served merely as a trigger to Acharya’s downfall.
The set and Victor Paulraj’s lights worked really well together, especially for a play with as many different scenes and locations as this one. It was easily one of the best, most carefully produced plays Chennai has seen in the last few months. It was effective and allowed the focus to remain on the content of the play and the questions it raises. Like Joseph's novel, Kesavan's adaptation leaves you unsettled with sharp, uncomfortably accurate observations about a society that is deeply stratified by caste and class.
This is an entirely personal observation, but it was interesting for me to note that when a character made a derogatory remark about the “genetically determined inferior intellectual abilities” of “Dalits, East-Europeans and women”, the audience’s naturally uncomfortable silence gave way to laughter at the mention of “women”. Clearly, some subalterns are less equal than others.
The Madras Players will also perform Serious Men on 28th and 29th September at 7:30 PM at the Museum Theatre. Book your tickets fast for a really well-produced, nicely executed adaptation of a wonderful novel, with stellar performances by the lead actors.
P.S. Thanks to Creashakti for tickets to the play!
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