Absurdist humour challenges the idea of safe spaces

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru:

“Our play challenges the idea of safety that makes people build walls and boundaries, that leads us to segregate people,” says Vivek Vijayakumaran, the director of Imagine a Room, which is playing at Ranga Shankara here on Wednesday.

“I think safety is a comfort and privilege and stems from a lack of imagination,” he said. The devised play features four people who enter a room as a perceived safe space and a fifth person who challenges and disrupts their ideas of a safe space. It’s a rare absurd comedy that challenges the notions of what we find acceptable in today’s society. And it was incredibly hard to put together.

“We started working on it in late 2019 and planned to put it up in 2020 but due to the pandemic, it didn’t happen. We finally resumed working on it in May 2021 and are now putting it up after five weeks of intense rehearsals,” said Vijayakumaran.

He explains the rehearsal process such, “We meet at the studio at 7:30 and start with physical training, in the afternoon and have our meal and then begin working on devising the play which goes on till 7 in the evening. And we do this six days a week.” The play stars Abhitej Gupta, Honey Raza, Kavya Srinivasan, Lakshman KP and Shrunga B V who have been deeply involved in developing the play with the writers and director.

As to the response so far, Vivek said, “It is heartwarming. People become aware of the rooms we lock ourselves in and sometimes learn to break out of them.” He believes a safe space is one that accommodates every member of society. “I also believe it’s a highly overrated concept that leads us to wall ourselves in. Every space can be a safe space if we are sensitive instead of seeking it out in one corner,” he concludes.

Where: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar
When: June 15, 7:30
Tickets: Rs 250