‘Saanp Seedhi’: An Indian adaptation of the acclaimed play ‘Sleuth’
An Indian adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s ‘Sleuth’ changes the setting to a Goan villa but retains the element of gameplay
In a small studio in Mumbai’s Aram Nagar, Kumud Mishra appears menacing as he rehearses for the forthcoming play, Saanp Seedhi. His character, Anil Wadhwa, appears easygoing but conceited and calculative. His distinctive smirk will leave you guessing about his intentions. This is an adaptation of British playwright Anthony Shaffer’s 1970 play, Sleuth. The story revolves around a mystery writer with a fascination for gameplay. He invites his wife’s lover to his house for one such game involving a robbery. The lines between truth and game become blurred as the play progresses. The Tony Award-winning play has had several successful productions over the years, including a film adaptation in 1972.
Its Indian version, premiering as part of Aadyam Season 7, a theatre production initiative by the Aditya Birla Group, has been produced by D for Drama and directed by actor Shubhrajyoti Barat with Kumud Mishra and Sumeet Vyas playing the two pivotal characters. The Wiltshire manor of the original has been replaced by a Portuguese villa in Goa, opulent but tasteless. The mystery writer is now a filmmaker but with the same kind of genius and penchant for gameplay.
The trio—Barat, Vyas and Mishra—last worked together in 2023 in Puraane Chawal (an adaption of The Sunshine Boys, a play written by Neil Simon in 1972) where Vyas took on the role of director and the other two squabbled on stage. The idea for Saanp Seedhi germinated in the same rehearsal room. “Sumeet said a few times that he would have liked to act. To see Kumud and Sumeet act together seemed exciting," says Barat.
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Barat has spent over 30 years as an actor in theatre and film productions. He calls himself a reluctant director, with his last outing in this role having taken place 10 years ago with Song of the Swan, a devised piece about the life of theatremaker Hans Christian Ostro, who was abducted and beheaded by a militant outfit in Kashmir in 2015. Barat also directed an adaptation of Arthur Miller’s Price in 2011. “I’ve been a director in fits and starts. I don’t want to be a regular one. It has to be something that sticks with me," he says.
When it came to Sleuth, Barat didn’t want to direct the play as it was in the original. It had to be contemporary and less sombre. “In the original, Kumud’s character is a maverick murder mystery novelist who writes about crimes of passion that happen in elite circles. He belongs to the same class. It is very Agatha Christie-esque in both form and writing. How do you find parallels for this in India, in this day and age? If you turn an English novelist into a Hindi novelist, the elitism ends right there," he says, adding, “We wanted the characters to be more accessible—the type you may have met somewhere."
Today, Barat is less hard on himself and the actors. “I’ve never been a fan of the slave-driver form of direction. Theatre is the most democratic of art forms. Too many directors like to play Godman. It’s a power trip. I’m not interested in that," he says. He is also conscious about keeping the actor in himself outside the rehearsal room. “I don’t want to impose my way of approaching a character. There are times when I may vehemently disagree with what the actors are saying, but I still try it out and keep an open mind."
On 22-23 March, 4pm and 7.30pm at Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Mumbai; and 29-30 March, 4pm and 7.30pm, at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi.
Prachi Sibal is a Mumbai-based writer.
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