2012-2015

As the years progressed, there was this realisation that the Prayas movement has found its momentum. While our strength lay in the commitment from our core group, the newer and diverse people joining the team and their collective talents provided the variety, the nourishment and enriched our quality.  The moving story of Rudali by Mahasweta Devi and a long running successful production in Hindi by Usha Ganguly (sadly died recently), were the inspiration of our 2012 production. With Margaret-Mary and Ahi as part of the direction team, I could rely on their talents and training in polishing our skills and lifting the overall quality. Patricia was outstandingly convincing in the lead role – a Cook Island woman as a village widow from the heartland of India! Imagine…no borders!  And she was well supported by Anya, Monica and the rest of the cast. The live band was another highlight. Still can picture Ahi on the piano in Birsha’s Eid-prayer cap! And the other memory that I have is the painting of the TAPAC floor. Ahi and I was Jessika – the designer’s assistants or apprentices in two shifts of some 6 hours each for the primary and the finished coats. Ahi would dispute but Jessika would still vouch for my skills and quality!

Around the time of Rudali, Readers and Writers’ Festival was planning to invite Rohinton Mistry and approached us through Margaret-Mary for a season of A Fine Balance during the visit. However, unfortunately Mistry could not come due to health issues and the project got abandoned.

We made two productions in 2013. First in March was Thali as part of the Auckland Fringe Festival and then later in the year a repeat season of Rudali at the Herald Theatre. Thali was great fun showcasing short plays of various genre and regions of the subcontinent.  For me was special too – my first appearance for Prayas in acting role under the direction of Monica! Very appropriately cast as a curry chef, aligning one of my peak skills in real life!

Meantime having seen the show, The Edge invited us for a repeat season of Rudali in 2013 as part of the Contemporary programme on a shared-risk basis.  The season was timed around the Diwali festival. Prayas’ maiden journey to the mainstream theatre arena. The production had to be re-jigged from the original traverse to a traditional proscenium arrangement. In some of the scenes like the village fair, we used the theatre doors for entry points to emulate the sense of space. Ahi as co-director excelled in working out the ensemble scenes, using the charpoy sourced from a Papatoetoe Indian grocery shop as the primary prop sometime being used as a bus or a screen at the prostitute quarter! The cast was almost the same as 2012, however, with a few new ones. Some notable newcomers were our beloved Nona-ji, Aman, Raj and Sayanti as the lead vocalist! 841 people went through the gate across seven shows and the project was successful and profitable.

Thinking back about the initial years, we must acknowledge our local sponsors who kept faith in our cause and commitment. I also fondly remember the visit during the season by Mr Shekhar Bajaj (Bajaj Electricals) whose NGO Shabdam from India was a key sponsor of our shows since 2009. Shabdam was primarily run by his wife Mrs Kiran Bajaj – a close friend of Sudeepta.

Prayas had launched itself with Charandas Chor and in the eight years since both our audience as well as the company changed and evolved. So, in 2014 it was time to bring back the Chor in a new approach and from a different creative perspective. Ahi and M-M as codirectors provided the requisites successfully and the Chor stayed ever popular with Rahul Gandhi as Charandas and introducing Mustaq Missouri as the Guru. Also, Prateek got introduced by Rahul to board our waka as a key sailor.

The 10-year celebration of Prayas started with the production of The Mourning After at the Basement Theatre.  A telling play written by Ahi based on his personal experiences and Padma’s first directional role in a Prayas production. We were only given one week of four shows which got sold out before the start of the season. Basement did underestimate the reach and demand of Prayas shows! A missed revenue opportunity for them!

Our own main production was later in the year! The unaccomplished A Fine Balance project of 2012 was always at the back of our mind and looked appropriate for our 10^th year finale! Earlier in the year, Sananda finally had enough of Waltzing Matilda and was back in Aotearoa. Ahi’s direction was superb, suitably assisted by her. And we had a very efficient and objective Production Manager in Sandeep. The set looked grand with a huge hanging poster of Indira Gandhi staring ominously at the audience. Getting the whole design ready in time for the season was another matter. A literal nightmare that still haunts all concerned! In an acting role my highlight was reliving the slogans and the rabblerousing from my university days and as a producer, it was personally gratifying – to celebrate the tenth year while bringing alive on stage one of my favourite novels!

This was also the first outing for Prayas regulars – Rishabh & Anisha!

That connection from our tenth year brings us to the “now” of Prayas collaborating with ATC at the Q with A Fine Balance.

History is to be a chronicle from the past. The stories from the last five years are recent enough to be fresh in our memory. I leave them for a future time. Probably at Prayas20! Meanwhile let’s keep the flame alight!