Theatre director Abhilash Pillai has created a replica of an airplane cabin at Abhimanch auditorium for the play, loren Ipsum, inspired by the Malaysian aircraft which went missing last year. He tells Shrabasti Mallik how a simple story brings out the ills of our society
Visual appeal is something that Abhilash Pillai cannot compromise on, when it comes to his productions. His strong narratives are mostly supported by great set design that adds an aesthetic appeal to his plays. He believes, “Any form of art should engage all the five senses so it is important to pay attention to every minute detail to hold the audience’s attention.”
For his latest production, he has converted the stage into a cabin of an aircraft, complete with an elevated level which serves as a cockpit. His play, loren Ipsum, the final year student’s production of the National School of Drama, is inspired from the Malaysian aircraft which went missing last year. The play has many layers and meanings that one will identify with. “Whenever I do plays, I try and make them as real as possible and involve the audience in it, too,” says Pillai.
The play is a story about a flight journey. But underneath that lies a whole different journey — a journey that is taken by both the actors and the audience. It is a story of a flight within a flight and is stitched together with usual activities that commence once the flight is ready for takeoff. From the usual safety drill to the announcement of the destination and duration of flight to crew attendants serving refreshments and attending to passenger calls — everything has been kept realistic.
lorem Ipsum begins with the projection of a waiting lounge of an airport where people are waiting to board the plane and when they are inside the plane, the journey begins. More than a physical journey, the play is an enactment of the mental journey that every individual on board is set for. “It is about those little experiences and moments that people come across during a flight,” says Pillai.
The passengers (actors) on board the makeshift aircraft cabin represent people from all walks of life. “Earlier air travel was accessible to only the elite. Now, after liberalisation and the huge influence of the corporate world, it is affordable to all,” points out the director.
Through characters, he highlights different kinds of stigmatisation that goes on inside an aircraft. The director explains, “People have many thoughts about their co-passengers, position of seats and food. They make an opinion of people based on their appearances, which is wrong.” There are a few issues that Pillai brings forth. “The most important of which is the constant fear of being hijacked if there is a Muslim on board. People form a pre-conceived notion and often reluctantly take the flight. But who they think, are working on the other side of the law are, for most parts, decent people,” he adds.
Through one flight attendant, the play brings to light gender issues. “There is a stewardess who was molested as a child. She is very conscious of her surroundings and if accidentally somebody touches her hand she panics,” he says. Then there is a female flight instructor, who wanted to become an astronaut. “It is her flight of imagination,” he adds.
The play takes a turn towards ambiguity when the flight goes into an emergency mode. The trainer comes into the cockpit to help the pilot make a safe landing but the landing does not happen on earth. “May be it is space. I let the audience be the judge of that,” he says. A news announcement follows which informs people that the concerned flight, with 10 hours of fuel, has been missing for the past 24 hours.
The curtains come down with passengers of the flight standing at the airport lounge of their destination, waving to the audience. The ambience of the lounge and cabin is created with visual graphics which are projected on big white screens. The words loren Ipsum, are gibberish words used in graphics before the content is put in.