The finesse and professionalism that MigHT-I Theatre presented the two-act Hindi play “Jaal–The trap” last Sunday proved a fitting tribute to the Queen of Suspense Dame Agatha Christie in her 120th anniversary year.
Jaal is the Hindi adaptation of Dame Christie’s celebrated play “The Mousetrap”, which has the distinction of being the world’s longest continuously running play ever.
Performed uner the aegis of the South Side Arts Festival (formerly the Manukau Arts Festival), Jaal is MigHT-I Theatre’s third production after the successful staging of the Gujarati play “Mara Varno Varghodo”, a second performance of which is being staged this weekend, and the Hindi “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla”.
Jaal begins with the murder of a mysterious woman in Khandala, a popular hill station and holiday spot near the western Indian city of Mumbai. The action takes place in a guest house, where a house full of suspects have gathered and where a second murder is about to be committed.
At the heart of any mystery lies the question of what is real and what is not. This is particularly true of Jaal, which relies on disguise to confuse the audience. In true Christie style, it is quite impossible to guess who the culprit is and the audience was seen animatedly discussing and arguing which of the character was responsible for the murder.
The script of this Hindi adaptation of the world’s most famous crime thriller play has been written by Prashant Belwalkar, who has also directed it. It is crisp, taut and spectacularly succeeds in keeping viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the course of the performance peperred with spine-chilling moments.
The play featured some of the finest artistes in Auckland. Jyotsna Kkuntal Trivedi has essayed varied roles in different productions and is a crowd favourite. Kkuntal Trivedi has made a mark for himself for his versatility and this play undoubtedly cements his reputation.
Rupal Solanki had audiences in splits in the recent Gujarati production , brings in another power packed performance, while Jayashree Sonar is known to audiences in Auckland as a talented artiste who has featured on radio, TV and films.
A veteran of stage in India Shailesh Prajapati makes a come back to his favourite medium and Santanu Ghosh moves out from Bengali Theatre on to the wider Hindi stage.
Kedar Divekar is back after an exciting performance in Ek Ruka Hua Faisla and the surprise package was Raghunath Pawar, featuring in his maiden Hindi venture in Auckland.
Lajja Prajapati ably assisted Belwalkar in directing the play, which was one of the most professionally produced stage offerings seen in Auckland in recent times. Each of the performers played their role with finesse, modulating their voices perfectly and getting into the skin of their characters with great dexterity.
The strong cast, backed by a superbly crafted script, a well designed set – the likes of which one rarely finds in Auckland – and a convenient venue made this Diwali a cracking one. There were two performances of the play on the same day and the artistes must be commended for their commitment and dedication to perform them almost back to back on the Sunday.
The original English play “The Mousetrap” was initially performed as a radio play in 1952 and was broadcast by the BBC with the title “Three Blind Mice”. The radio play had been commissioned in 1947 by Queen Mary, who was a Christie fan. The 45- minute play was based on a short story on which Christie had been working; however, audience reaction was so positive that Christie went back to work on the script, elaborating on it, and with its first performance on October 6, 1952, “The Mousetrap” became a stage play.
After a seven-week tour, the play opened in London at The Ambassadors Theatre on November 25, 1952. The play later transferred to St. Martin's Theatre in London on March 23, 1974 and has been running there ever since. The play has broken several records for its continuous theatrical run since its opening, and it is estimated that more than four million people had seen the play by the time its twenty-five year anniversary was celebrated in 1977.
After another twenty years of performances it is safe to speculate that an additional three to four million people have probably sat in the dark and tried to work out the puzzle of identitifying the murderer.
MigHT-I theatre dedicated “Jaal” as a celebration of the 120th anniversary of Agatha Christie.