Court Martial-
Reflecting the current scenario, another justice-themed play staged by Samahaara is Swadesh Deepak’s “Court Martial”, directed by Rathna Shekar Reddy that took their audience on a roller-coaster of emotions that only go up. Ramchandar is a junior-ranked soldier in the Army who is being tried for the murder of two of his senior officers- Captain Kapoor and Captain Varma, one of who escapes with injuries. Presided by Colonel Surat Singh a court martial is summoned. “Ramchandar’s trial is not only a fight for his life but a fight for a bigger truth. A truth that is more important than his own life.”
Centering around the caste-bias that still manages to manifest itself in our progressive world, this sensitive issue is skilfully touched in this play reaching out to the human in all of us. What seems like a simple murder trial, leads to the exposure of a web of ugly truths that’ve intricately weaved themselves into all our systems, that still manage to survive after 7 decades into independence.
Rathna Shekar Reddy plays the defence lawyer; Mayank Parakh,the veteran presiding the court martial; Sonu Fasan plays the accused, and the rest of the cast includes Jonas David, Richa Dharia, Suresh Kumar, Abhijeet Deshpande, Rahul Nayak and Nilachal Majhi. As the defendant progresses in the case, the suppressed find their voice and the first act ends in a dramatic Captain Kapoor at the end of the gun. The second act moves at a quicker pace leaving the audience with rising anger at Captain Kapoor as Ramchander finally crumbles to the floor while revealing his motive. I’ll now leave it to you to find that out for yourselves and let you enjoy this engrossing play without any more spoilers! 3:)
-Vyshnavi Mallubatla