Yadavan Chandran’s ‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’ turns the stage into a picture of realism

From ‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’ staged at Natarani in Ahmedabad
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

That you get a reality check while watching Yadavan Chandran’s ‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’ is true, that you question the meaning of life and death, attachment and detachment, is a given too. But, what does not happen after watching it is you walking out in relaxed acceptance or quiet submission. This play curates a mental canvas where you encounter extremes in emotions and thoughts, debate internally, assess needs, wants and wishes only to leave feeling lighter, perhaps clearer, by its sheer depiction and portrayal.

Inspired by Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities, ‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’ “confronts surreal contradictions we live with” and as Yadavan, who conceived and directed it, clarifies, “longs to explore the invisible threads that bind us to places, experiences, memories and dreams”.

With a cast comprising classical dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai, award-winning theatre artiste Penelope Deen, Bharatanatyam dancer and drama artiste Lucrezia Maniscotti, and educator and theatre artiste Teertha Bhatt, backed by a terrific team, the production that portrays Marco Polo in all earnestness transports you into a world that oscillates between something incredibly familiar and completely non-existent. If one seeks and leads the audience to a parallel world, another searches for profound insights; one finds connections between the past and the future world and one dares to dream and derive meaning. The very fact that different characters playing Marco exist in one play explains the various layers an individual possesses and how much is unexplored in the realities and world of each individual, each story.

‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’, a technically sound performance
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The narrative does not progress from a typical beginning to the middle and an end, but comforts and discomforts you in turns with realities you relate to and meanings you form or understand even when they disturb your acceptance bar.

Having done 13 shows at Natarani, Ahmedabad, since its inaugural during the Vikram Sarabhai International Arts Festival in December 2024, ‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’, says Mallika, has moved her deeply, especially “the empathy and absurdity, as also the prophetic situations” it touches upon. For Yadavan, it has been about confronting the surreal contradictions we live with. “The way we chase progress while erasing memory or seek connection while building walls, it has pushed me to reflect on the strange truths of our time,” he shares.

While the theatrical piece is in progress, you have words reflecting on the screen, allowing you to engage in an exercise that throws questions but follows them up with answers, so you can have a thought-provoking dialogue with your inner self, maybe.

‘Why do we build only to be forgotten?’

‘We build because we have dreams’.

‘What remains when the chessboard is empty?’

‘The memory of the game; it leaves silence behind’.

The words reflecting on the screen, allowed the audience to engage in an exercise that threw questions and followed them up with answers
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Some lines like ‘Every day we bury the past and call it progress’ or ‘The higher the walls, the more they conceal’ spark an internal debate, switch understanding for reason and evoke the philosopher within. This unconventional theatrical performance at the outset explores the theme of building cities, but what it does better is help with discovering the self, questioning one’s purpose in an evolving and fast-changing world.

In a world divided between connection and disconnection, broken by distance and built through cohesiveness, this immersive experience explores the various facets of life and living, leaving you to wonder about your purpose and existence in the world.

A technically sound performance, ‘Meanwhile Elsewhere’ does not limit itself to visual appeal but caters to the wholesomeness of sound and music, presentation and view, word and technology, integrating these to create a range of visual offerings depicting moods, feelings and situations. Having essayed a fair share of hit shows in Ahmedabad, Yadavan and Mallika are working towards taking it to national and international stages.