Animals out of paper

Rajiv Joseph a notable playwright has come up with another incredible piece of art - a play called Animals Out of Paper, produced by Scene Stealers and directed by Aditee Biswas.

This play features Geeta Sudan, Vivek Mansukhani and Sriharsh Sharma in the lead roles.  “ Scene Stealers is making a comeback with this play, after a break from the theatre. I have known Rajiv since past few years. I heard much about his work, especially about Animals Out of Paper. When I got the chance to read the script, I was immediately impressed and moved by how beautifully it was written. The plot revolves around the lives of three people, one woman and two men and it showcases how they impact each other’s lives,” says Vivek, the lead actor.

The play draws a parallel between the art of folding paper-Origami and the lives of these intriguingly flawed characters.

The story goes like this: Naina (Geeta Sudan) is a world-renowned artist and is stuck until she opens her studio to an eccentric high school teacher, Andy (Vivek Mansukhani) and his teenage student Sudesh (Sriharsh Sharma) a prodigy. The characters begin to mould and reshape each other’s lives in much the same way they fold and crease their Origami Art.

It signifies the ways in which people hurt, heal and love those around them. “A few years back Rajiv attended a convention in New York on Origami and got the opportunity of speaking with few artists. He was amazed by this Japanese fine art and realised what this meant to the artists and how therapeutic it was for them. Listening to their stories, inspired him to write a play on Origami,” adds Vivek.

Vivek Mansukhani, the founder and artistic director of New Delhi-based theatre company Scene Stealers, has been in the theatre business since last thirty years. Under his production banner he has directed many plays like No Room for Love, Duet for Three, Funny Money and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). He also acted in the film In Othello, and played a cameo in Dil Dosti.

Geeta Sudan, the female lead has acted in films like No One Killed Jessica, Veere Di Wedding and the Amazon web series Made In Heaven. Sriharsh Sharma, who plays the teenage prodigy, is an actor and musician and he had his first role as a child artist when he was only eleven years old and has performed on stage in Delhi and Mumbai. He writes lyrics and raps in real life, similar to his character Suresh in Animals Out of Paper. The director, Aditee Biswas is an alumnus of The National School of Drama and currently teaches theatre at the British School.

The show opens in Delhi on June 8 and 9 at the Stein Auditorium, Indian Habitat Centre starting from 7.30 pm.