City-based theatre artiste’s next: A play on ‘mindless forwarding’

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Waking up every day to a new set of “forwarded” messages in family Whatsapp groups had become routine for 30-year-old theatre artiste Suraj Parasnis. Often, these messages were polarising and rife with misinformation. Parasnis, along with fellow artiste Omkar Gokhale, who also had similar experiences, found themselves becoming increasingly distressed by this. This is when they realised the need to raise awareness about the issue through their new play, Varta Varta Wadhe.
Set in a village with no internet connectivity, with postal system being their only way to send or receive messages, the village is in a dreary state in terms of literacy and public awareness. Blind faith and superstitions have taken over people’s ability to differentiate between right and wrong. All hell breaks loose with the arrival of a letter one day, which gets misunderstood.
The play seeks to draw parallels between the village plagued by illiteracy and the current “infodemic” in the world around, where people often circulate messages without any scrutiny. “This play is a satire; a commentary on our tendency to forward messages without thinking twice and adding anything we like with it. We are trying to highlight what can happen if a person interprets the message in the wrong way,” says Parasnis.
Produced by Theatron Entertainment and Sneha Bhave Productions, the play will make its debut on July 1 at Bharat Natya Mandir, and on July 3, at the Annabhau Sathe Sabhagruha.
Written by Gokhale and directed by Parasnis, the 90-minute play will feature more than 60 actors.
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