War of worlds

Hartman De Souza’s play, Soldiers’ Silence, tells the story of a chance encounter between an American soldier and an Iraqi militant

Journalist, educationist and theatre veteran Hartman de Souza’s play Soldier’s Silence will be staged in Bengaluru on December 16 and 20. The play will be staged by theatre actors Shivam Sardana from Pune and Shahej Aziz from Punjab, both schoolmates and friends of Hartman.

“This is our fifth show in Bengaluru,” says Sahej from Delhi airport in transit to Bengaluru from Punjab. “It is special for us as Hartman lived in Bengaluru for 20 years before he moved to Pune. Soldiers’ Silence is his seminal play, which was written 10 years ago but never performed. It was only when Shivam reached out that we got together with Hartman and started working. Unfortunately, even as the rehearsals began, Hartman fell ill and was hospitalized. We did not want to stop the work. Encouraged by his family, we directed the play ourselves.”

Sahej says the credit for their direction should go to Hartman as he has written a play that lends itself easily to theatre.

The play tells of a chance encounter between an American soldier and an Iraqi militant in a forsaken Indian airport that even lacks electricity. “The men are injured and are in the waiting lounge. They get talking and discuss personal and universal topics including love, family, countries and war.”

The irony, Sahej is that the dark airport waiting lounge becomes a battlefield and ends in violence because of differing perceptions of notions of war and masculinity. “The irony is that through their anger and hatred, the idea of the futility of war comes forth.”

The play has a minimal set up, says Sahej. “All we have on the stage are two chairs and two actors — Shivam and myself. With bare light and sound. And the entire drama plays out between these two men on their respective chairs. It is a purely performance driven play.”

The performances are backed and presented by Space Theatre Ensemble, the theatre group born out of “Space A Society For Promoting Arts Culture And Education” a Goa based NGO.