A STRAIGHT PROPOSAL by Happy Ranajit
The Play
The play covers the life of Mitesh the protagonist of the play, the ups and downs in his life which goes parallel to the ups and downs of the LGBT movement in India. The play unfolds a series of love stories of Mitesh and his relationship with his brother and father which bring out the several problems in gay community. A secret life and a mysterious death of Mitesh in this play are not just incidents they become metaphors for us.
Director’s Note
The pink triangle was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. We all condemn Hitler for his deeds. The play speaks about the problems and possibilities of LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender) culture in India in current political scenario in India. It’s about a man who is in constant search of a committed relationship and who wants to live with dignity. Each scene of this play is a portion of diary of an imaginary character Mitesh. Each page of the diary is related to the moment of LGBT in India, an article number of IPC which makes every act of an individual a crime in some or the other way.
A story of one diary, four love stories, one phone call, four days of love, one promise, four lovers and one gun.
The Playwright & Director
Happy Ranajit started working in theatre since his childhood at Odisha and after completing masters in science, he joined NSD and successfully completed his degree with specialization in acting in 2008. He has acted in more than 60 plays with many eminent directors like Ram Gopal Bajaj, Amal Allana, Anuradha Kapur, Tripurari Sharma, Anamika Haksar, Abhilash Pillai, K.S Rajendran, Dilip Shankar, David Freeman and Powel Miskinviz. In 2010, he participated in the physical theatre workshop by theatre ZAR, Poland.
Apart from acting, he also conducts acting workshops, writes and directs plays. He has written and directed following plays – Familiar Strangers, Moth******er, Hangover, Love ka Overdose, Wizard of Numbers Genuine Liars, A Straight Proposal, Ward No. 30, Bhagyashree ka MMS Dekha Kya. Out of which Familiar Strangers and Genuine Liars got published recently in one book called “Strangers and Liars”
He got the best actor award at Mahindra theatre awards 2010 for his performance in Roop Aroop. He also won the best actor award at the international GATS theatre festival for the play Richard III at Beijing, China. He has received the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar by Sangeet Natak Akademy for acting for the year 2012.
The Group
Established in 2010 and got registered in 2012 by a group of young artists. Unicorn Actors’ Studio is set with a purpose to give platform to ideas, new thoughts and experimental performances. The group focuses on evolving new texts, new language of performances, collaborative works and performances on a regular basis. The group has produced two plays so far such as Ernest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette. Familiar Strangers is the third and latest production of this group. The group has travelled in many parts of India and has conducted acting workshops.
Cast and Credits
Mitesh Dilip Shankar
Dhruv Teekam Joshi
Amar Nitin Goel
Kranti Yuvraj Bajwa
Turag Junaid Kaifi
Amitesh Shaurya Shankar
Colonel Bakshi Ashok Dhawan
Pink Boys Vaibhav Raj, Aditya Sinha, Anjeet Tushir, Aman Sood.
Harshvardhan Chaturvedi
Lights Happy Ranajit
Sound Design Sandy Singh
Sound Operation Akshay Sharma
Video Projection Akash Mahamana
Costumes Anupriya Bhagat
Choreography Gilles Chuyan
Property Deepanand
Backstage Lucky
Production Sachin kumar
Stage Manager Mohit Raj Saxena
Asst. Director Gauri Dewal
Playwright & Director Happy Ranajit