Date: 17th May 2019
Venue: The Attic, CP

‘Night, Mother directed by Vamika Sachar reminds us of a home truth.

In the context of the early 20^th century theatre star Nati Binodini, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, while defending theatre, had said, theatre is a means of public education. Theatre trends across the world have reflected this ethos. Time and again theatre has been used as a mode of activism or promoting an idea. ‘Night, Mother adapted by Vamika from a Pulitzer prizewinning drama by Marsha Norman, does that.

During a post dinner conversation, Jessica or Jessie Cates (Kritika Bhatia) tells her elderly mother Thelma Cates (Kavita Seth) that she wants to commit suicide that night. The play builds up on the mother-daughter conversation whereby Jessica tries to explain to her mother why she wants to kill herself while Thelma tries to dissuade her.

As the play progresses, it is clear that Jessie is suffering from epilepsy. That, coupled with various other circumstances in her life, has pushed her to her to the edge.  So much so, she does not see any merit in life. To her, death is the only solution and she is so nonchalant about it that it sends chills down the spine. Meanwhile, the mother Thelma tries to show Jessica the merits of living.

On one hand, Jessie breaks our heart. Her inflexibility in accepting any other solution, but death, makes one feel so challenged. Even on our seats in the auditorium, we wring our hands in helplessness.  The set looks like any parlour from a home in India and becomes another character in the play. At times, we feel like walking up into that room and knocking some sense in Jessie’s head. Kritika does that to the character Jessie.

On the other hand, Kavita Seth steals our heart as Thelma. She brings the character Thelma to life. Her desperation in encouraging her daughter to live, and her helplessness, given her age, brings a lump in our throat. Kavita dexterously brings out Thelma’s fear of losing her daughter, and the loneliness thereafter. The fear is almost tangible. She assays that aging relative, who may not be right always, or who could be extremely trying at times. But their love for us is unadulterated.

The play reminded us of a dear friend who was in a similar situation. It turns out that he was not just frustrated; he suffered from an ailment – depression. The solution to this ailment – like any other ailment – is medical treatment. Unfortunately, till some years back, depression was not recognised as an ailment in India. The patient, more often than not, would be stamped as a generally melancholy person and would not be provided medical treatment. There is some discussion on main stream media now about this mental disorder what with many celebrities from Bollywood, who seem to have it all, are owning up to suffering from depression. But even at this point, depression, as a medical disorder, is often deprived medical attention. Depression, as a disease, still calls for a lot of awareness.

Coming back to ‘Night, Mother – great cause, fantastic acting – all these work for the piece. The duration is almost two hours and towards the end it stumbles a bit. We would not mind a little editing here. More so, since the theme is heavy. Yet the play has lighter moments and notwithstanding the difficult issue, it manages to entertain.  There is no pedantic lecture in the script. Yet the play drives home its point without any ambiguity. To sum it, ‘Night Mother is a holistic piece of work.  We recommend this play to all, for the cause, and the communication of the cause in theatre language.

They are performing again on 24^th and 31^st May at Attic, Connaught Place. Do make the time.