Greed knows no bounds

French playwright Moliere’s The Miser was first performed in 1668 and published in 1669. The five-act comedy featuring an old, miserly widower as the protagonist, showed the conflict between love and money. Centuries later, the plot, characters and issues discussed in the play remain universal. City-based theatre group Sutradhar will be presenting Kanjoos Makkhi Choose, a Hyderabadi adaptation of The Miser this weekend, leading up to World Theatre Day celebrations.
“The element of farce, high comedy and satire prevalent in Moliere’s plays makes them easy to adapt since the subjects are universal,” says director of the play and actor Vinay Varma.
A play usually stems from the need to reflect the social and political situation of a time. While adapting The Miser, the Sutradhar team didn’t get tied up in knots about bridging the cultural divide trying to understand the situation in French society in the time of Moliere.
“In Hyderabad we hear of incidents where young women are married off to elderly Arabs. In this play, the elderly miser wants to marry a woman young enough to be his daughter in law. So we explore the situation within the indigenous society,” says Vinay.
In the play, both father and son vie for the same girl. Patriarchal and feudal mindsets are at work. Through a series of comical, almost nonsensical situations, the play reveals exploitation as it exists around us. One of the characters, Vinay explains, is an expert at matchmaking. She doesn’t flinch at the idea of arranging a match between the elderly miser and a young girl, if she benefits monetarily. “People can be matlabi in relationships and several intricacies are explored here,” says Vinay.
Moliere’s plays are characterised by high comedy, accompanied by gestures and body language that can occasionally seem crude. The Sutradhar team smoothed the rough edges to make the play suitable for Indian sensibilities. A story also has a lost and found angle to it, so often explored in mainstream cinema.
“Kanjoos Makkhi Choose shows there’s no end to greed. The feudalistic mindset of exploiting labour and not paying them enough also gets discussed. There’s a lot of comedy. While you laugh, you will also think and feel sad about what’s happening. Also, while watching the absence of love between a father and son, the audience will realise how a bond shouldn’t be,” says Vinay.
(‘Kanjoos Makkhi Choose’, directed by Vinay Varma, has an ensemble cast. Duration: 100 minutes. The play will be staged on March 24 at Lamakaan, Banjara Hills, on March 25 and 26 at Phoenix Arena, Hitec City at 7.30 pm. Tickets priced at ₹200 each, available on www.bookmyshow.com)