Cotton 56, Polyester 84 & Comrade Kumbhakarna : Two plays by Ramu Ramanathan

Description

Featuring two essays by Pragya Tiwari & Ashutosh Potdar

Ramu Ramanathan’s plays serve like a scalpel in dissecting the contemporary socio-political reality with an oblique eye on myths and history. The two plays in this volume serve as the best example of the sharpness of scalpel which he has been wielding untiringly for more than three decades. It requires great courage and commitment to swim against the stream of popular culture for such a long time. — Satish Alekar

Both these plays can be described as an ‘account of the vanquished’ or a spirit-song of the dispossessed. Through Cotton 56, Polyester 84, Ramanathan skillfully recreates a lost city, bringing to life the loves and friendships, the cultural inheritance and the politics of mill workers who fought for their ideas and lost, while in Comrade Kumbhakarna, he offers a trippy, contemporary take on ancient battles that will have to be fought in every age. — Annie Zaidi

These two plays delve into recent history and distant mythology to critique the present scene, and expose the power structures that dominate us. Ramu Ramanathan’s unique theatre idiom consists of ordinary people, the conflicts and confrontations they face, lucid dialogues laced with humour, and a sharp understanding of theatre space. — Maya Pandit