Gnatak theatre group to stage Athol Fugard's play, ‘The Train Driver', in Thiruvananthapuram
In 1979, a group of young people in Bengaluru — undergraduate students, doctors, engineers, and scientists — came together to form Gnatak, a theatre collective staging English plays that highlighted the lives of those on the margins. The group remained active for nearly eight years before going dormant, only to be revived in the early 2000s with a series of productions inspired by the works of leading international playwrights.
On May 10, Gnatak will stage The Train Driver in Thiruvananthapuram. The 70-minute play, written by recently deceased South African playwright Athol Fugard, is directed by Anikh Ghosh — an independent filmmaker and writer who also directed Gnatak's inaugural production, The Island (also by Fugard), in 1979.
MetroPlus caught up with the Gnatak team currently in the city: actors Abraham Karimpanal and Rohit Dave, and members of the technical crew, Michael Joseph (lighting) and Sutosom Chakraborthy (sound).
Abraham and Michael, both 65, have been with Gnatak since its inception. Abraham, also a director and lighting designer, has worked with stalwarts such as Kavalam Narayana Panikkar, Gracias Devaraj, and Prakash Aswani. Michael, a filmmaker and educator known for his pioneering work with various institutions, is director at the Datsi School for Storytellers in Thiruvananthapuram, a collaboration between Zebu Animation Studios and Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) Kerala.
Rohit, 53, was formerly with Rafiki Theatre and has also worked extensively as a voice artist. Sutosom, in his late 20s, is a CG lighting artist and mentor at Datsi; this production marks his first collaboration with Gnatak.
Reality on stage
The Train Driver is based on a harrowing real-life event — a mother who died by suicide on a railway track with her three young children. In the play, Roelf Visagie, an Afrikaner train driver, is haunted after his train runs over a Black woman and her baby, still strapped to her back. Wracked with guilt, he turns up at a graveyard and meets Simon, the Black gravedigger tasked with burying the nameless dead. As their conversation unfolds, Roelf slowly begins to make sense of his inner turmoil and the world around him.
Abraham and Rohit have been portraying Simon and Roelf respectively since the play's first staging in 2014. 'One of the reasons we chose this piece is its logistical ease — it has only two actors and can be performed in any space,' says Rohit. 'But more than that, although it was written in post-apartheid South Africa, the theme still resonates. It's about two people — from very different backgrounds — trying to understand one another.' Abraham adds, 'It's an emotional work and a challenge for any actor. It suits our style.'
Michael expands on this. 'We've been influenced by the likes of Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook, and Eugenio Barba — pioneers who moved away towards 'physical theatre which celebrated the body and dislodged the centrality of the spoken word'. Our productions have always focused on those pushed to the margins. What's interesting is how much energy each actor brings — it feeds into the other's performance. For us, it's always been about intense collaboration.'
As for lighting, Michael says it evolves with each performance. 'Fugard plays with time while remaining in the same physical setting. A scene may begin at dusk and slip into night — so I have to make subtle changes.'
Sutosom sees this experience as a growth opportunity. 'It's a chance to push myself and contribute a different dimension to the production,' he says.
Abraham notes that The Train Driver will offer audiences in Kerala a different kind of theatre. 'This isn't conventional professional theatre, nor is it the stylised, experimental kind. It is about ordinary people and raw emotion. We don't use masks or exaggerated movements to hide the narrative.'
The team sees the production as a tribute to Fugard and his body of work. 'It's been remarkable to see him mature into a masterly playwright. The craft he developed as a writer was so exquisite and nuanced,' Michael says.
The Train Driver, produced by Datsi School for Storytellers and Zebu Animation Studios, will be staged at Ganesham, Thycaud, on May 10. For tickets, contact 9447112918.
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