The Park’s The Other Festival - 2004 
    Music. Dance. Drama. Art. You.   

    The Chinmaya Heritage Centre, Chennai  
    # 2, 13th Avenue  
    Harrington Road, Chennai 600034  
     
     
    Mon, Dec 6, 2004, 7pm 

    ARJUN RAINA (New Delhi) “A terrible beauty is born” – A stand up tragedy    
     
     
    A play about International Call Centers in India. Set in both New YORK,USA and Gurgaon,India. This play explores a relationship between an old American lady Elizabeth in New York and her telephonic credit card dues collector who she knows as John. Through this relationship we discover this strange new world of fake accents and identities. Right till  the end of the  play Elizabeth thinks John is an American while in reality he is Ashok Mathur calling from Gurgaon with a fake name, accent and identity. 
     
     
    Exclusive interview with Arjun Raina  
    by Lalitha Venkat 
     
    How did you go about evolving your style of theatre, combining Indian and western elements? 
    I don’t consciously seek any difference between any notion of Indian and western. All my work comes from me and is a very essential part of me. It is my expression. If there are separate elements to be seen within it, then they exist within me.  

    Your current work for The Other Festival seems to reflect political and socially sensitive issues. What triggered an interest in this subject? 
    My father was a naxalite when I was a child. Political consciousness is a return to childhood for me. And for an artist, childhood is the real trigger to creativity. 

    What message do you wish to convey through this work?  
    All workers in Indian call centers must have their own names. It is critical to their sense of self and identity. 

    Do artistes run the risk of being termed didactic or militant when they take up social or environmental issues? Your comments.    
    If the artist is really serious and possessed by the subject, this is an irrelevant concern. 

    What is good or lacking in the current theatre scenario in India?  
    More of my performances!!!! 
      

    Contact:  
    e-mail: rainaarjun@hotmail.com 
     
     

    • What is The Other Festival?   
    • The Other Festival   • 2004