Pensha

Maati is happy for her friend, Sulakshana who is pregnant within five months of marriage. “When will it be my turn?” She wants an answer to her question. This is the plotline of the Hindi play, Maati, directed by Mahesh Dattani. It is an adaptation of the original Spansish drama, Yerma, by Federico Garcia Lorca. It will be staged in Pune at Sudarshan Rangmanch by students of The Drama School, Mumbai (DSM). We chat up with Dattani about Maati, questions of abundance versus scarcity of land and what it means to be a ‘proper’ woman. Excerpts... When did you first see or read Yerma? I first saw a play by Lorca when I was in my early 20s. It was directed by Ebrahim Alkazi. The play was The House of Bernarda Alba translated as Din Ke Andhere. It was a brilliant interpretation with powerful actors in the cast. I read Lorca’s rural trilogy at least a decade later and was completely taken up by Blood Wedding. At some point, a well-known theatre actress in Bengaluru suggested that I dir...