Binder

Synopsis

Sakharam Binder, the protagonist, thinks he has the system by the tail and he can disregard the culture & societal values as long as he is truthful. He picks up other men’s discarded women—castoff wives, who would otherwise be homeless, destitute or murdered with impunity, and takes them in as domestic servants and sex partners. He rules his home like a tin-pot tyrant, yet each woman is told that she is free to leave whenever she likes. He professes his ideology of absolute freedom and truthfulness, however, what he does not anticipate are the moral and emotional complications of this arrangement, which prove painfully ruinous to everyone involved. With due respect to the playwright, we have made no changes to the text in this adapted thematic staged reading. Instead of seeing this as a story of four characters, we want to show it as a mirror for us to look within ourselves, identify & accept the hypocrisy that we always carry as a first step to changing our perspective.

While there are many devices in the script and our play, the chief protagonist for us has been – the human mind – how it approaches living through complexities that exist and emerge amid the dilemmas of our lives which we are constantly drawn towards. And so the design of this play is a manifestation of mind in the form of voice and actions; the volatile relationship between mind and body – when they follow the same signals and then the times when the mind cheats one or both.

Cast and Crew

Directed by Sarbajeet Das

• Narrator, Champa’s Husband (Body) -Manojdon Pandey 
• Lakshmi (Body), Champa (Voice) – Faria Fatma 
• Sakharam (Body – Act 1, Voice – Act 2&3), Dawood & Champa’s Husband (Voice – Act 2&3) – Onkar Rangnekar 
• Dawood (Body) – Nirakar Panda 
• Sakharam (Voice – Act 1, Body – Act 2&3), Dawood (Voice – Act 1) – Nirlek Dhulla 
• Champa (Body), Lakshmi (Voice) – Debanjana Nath 
• Marketing Head – Faria Fatma
• Stage Manager – Nirakar Panda
• Live Music Execution – Ayan Biswas & Ganesh Poojari
• Set Design – Ayan, Pragya, Preetam, Shravya, Nirakar and Sarbajeet
• Field work and Production – Nirlek, Faria, Nirakar, Siddhartha, Gautam

About Theatre On Your Own 

We see things differently, We analyse them differently, So, we present them differently.

TOYO is an ensemble theatre group that was founded by Sarbajeet Das in 2015 to explore exciting new multimedia & story telling formats for unexpected and evocative performances. Through artistry and imagination, we create theatrical experiences that aim to spark a dialogue between artistes and audience. These include staged readings, improvisations, workshops (theatre training and corporate), formal theatre and corporate performances as well as original script development. We love to make original pieces of art, and yet forever are inspired by classic literatures. We team up to present our understanding of the play, which may be different from what is, thus allowing us to play with our and your minds. We believe in art, as artists and as people, thus supporting all pieces – race no bar, language no bar, form no bar. This approach has helped us create three distinct TOYO presentations