Meet Mr and Mrs Karl Marx in a new play

Six years ago, acclaimed director Manoj Shah offered a Gujarati play titled Karl Marx In Kalbadevi to theatre aficionados. It was based on the hypothetical situation that what would happen if the German philosopher arrives in Mumbai in the present-day scenario. Actor Satchit Puranik, who essayed the title role, has won rave reviews for his portrayal of the multi-talented personality and the play continues to be staged to packed houses even today. Now, on the occasion of Karl Marx’s 201st birth anniversary, Satchit is back with a new production, Mrs & Marx which offers viewers a glimpse of the man behind the famous social revolutionary. The documentary theatre piece, which is directed and performed by him and Michaela Talwar, chronicles the lives of Karl and his friend, philosopher, guide – his wife Jenny.

Michaela, who makes her theatre debut with this play, tells After Hrs what the process entailed.

How and when did you get the idea for Mrs & Marx?

The play is about Karl and Jenny’s personal life and about the circumstances in which most of his famous writings came about. Nobody really knows the private man that he was. She was a very strong influence on his writing. She was his editor who copied all his texts and made them legible. She was his companion through thick and thin but not much is known about her. I knew a bit about Jenny and felt this was a story that needed to be told.

What kind of research went into the play?

A lot. I am German and it was a boon in this case (laughs). There is not much literature on Jenny in English. Most of it is in German. And as we know, a lot of things get lost in translation. Then, there is a selection of letters that is partly public and partly published in a book which entails all her private correspondence to her husband, friends and theatre critics as she also was one of them. That told me a lot about her character. Germany was divided 29 years ago and the locals in the communist part of the country were a huge fan of Karl. A lot of writings were available on Jenny as a woman in the communist world. I was lucky that I was able to access all that material in my language.

What challenges did you face with the material?

The biggest difficulty was that their lives were so colourful and interesting that it was tough to condense everything into a 100-minute play. We had to pick out the key moments in their lives that shaped their personalities. Throughout their marital life, they battled poverty. There is a popular notion that Karl always led an affluent life and though he said that he fought for the working class, he never experienced what conditions they lived or worked in. But in reality, the couple was poorer than many workers and battled starvation most of their lives. Jenny came from an aristocratic background. She tried to keep that pretence that they were doing well. And she did it so well that people believed it. The fact that we decided it would be a two-people play helped us to stick to the main points. Their children were also part of the communist movement but we decided that they won’t be presented as characters in the play. But we would incorporate their tale in some other way. That also helped us to focus more on Karl and Jenny’s relationship.

This is your debut on stage....

I have acted in films but this was the first time I felt I should be a part of the play. Satchit is the best person to play Karl because he has such a rich knowledge about the man. He looks the part and he really believes in the ideology. I felt Jenny should be played by a German actress because there is so much subtext behind her personality. I was clear that I would direct the play with Satchit. That’s why I thought since I knew a lot and had a strong background in the socialist movement, it’s better if I played Jenny. I am slightly nervous about the technicalities because it is a docu-theatre format. We have approached it in an interesting way in terms of technical surroundings. We will be using a lot of light, sound and projections. It’s interesting that we are staging a production about this communist migrant couple in an unconventional space within a conventional venue.

Mrs & Marx will premiere at Tata Garden, National Centre for Performing Arts on May 5 at 8 pm.