A Review of the Performance of Mahesh Dattani’s Play Thirty Days in September

The second day of the theatre festival organized by West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur, Thirty Days in September, was staged in the Darpan auditorium of Shilpgram.
Written by a Sahitya Akademy Award winning playwright, Mahesh Dattani, the play dramatizes the sensitive issue of child sexual abuse. The protagonist, Mala, is molested by her own maternal uncle, Vinay, before she attains puberty. Mala’s mother, Shanta, does not protest against her daughter’s exploitation. Her silence intensifies Mala’s trauma and creates an ever-deepening conflict between the two, which ends only with the mother’s confession that she, too, was molested by the same person in her childhood. The play shows how forced sexual relation in childhood affects the victim’s psyche and how the two victims, Shanta and Mala, are affected differently; one bears it silently due to social inhibitions and taboos, and the other raises a voice against it.
Directed by Ruchi Bhargava Narula, a multitalented theatre artist from Jaipur, the play was powerfully performed in English, the language of the original script. Despite the play being in English, the Indian English accent of artists, discreet use of props and songs, adequate light and sound effects, and a brief introductory note on the play in Hindi made it easier for the Hindi-speaking audience to understand the context and the message.
Chirmi Acharya, playing the protagonist, seemed to have understood the complexity of Mala’s character and the poignancy of her conflict and traumatic experience. She succeeded laudably in conveying the anguish, pain, and confusion of Mala through adequate tonal variations, facial expressions, gesticulations, and emotive dialogues. 
Shanta’s dilemma and suppressed agony were well expressed by Neekee Chaturvedi. Her dialogues came out with great ease and impact. She seemed to have identified herself completely with Shanta’s vulnerable situation. 
Kartikey Mishra, playing the contemptuous character of Vinay, proved his dramatic excellence in accurately and effectively portraying the voluptuousness, shamelessness, and wickedness of Mala’s maternal uncle. His spontaneity in dialogue-delivery and prompt changes in facial expressions seemed commendably consistent with Vinay’s manipulative conduct. 
Shashi Kiran, in Deepak’s role, performed well as Mala’s well-wisher. However, occasionally, he fell short of making his delivery appear effortless. 
Other artists, including Mohit Krishan as paperwalla and man, Vaidehi as Radhika, and Asif Sher Ali Khan as Man, appeared impressive in their short roles. Light design by Shazor Ali, music and sound effects by Raju Kumar, set design by Vipin Sharma and Jitesh, properties by Kanishk Sharma and Ayan Pandey, stage management by Chinmay Madan contributed greatly to the success of the show. 
The performance was indeed immensely moving.