It’s telling of the potency of a play, when it continues to be staged decades after it was originally written. In Silence! The Court is in Session Vijay Tendulkar takes the covers off a conformist society, to show us just what it is capable of when given the power to lord over those who live by their own rules. 
With a drama woven into a drama, the play revolves around theatre group about to perform a play in a village. As the plot thickens, the comforting mist of ‘pretend’ starts to dissolve revealing the frustrated, bitter and jaded lives of the performers.
Light years ahead of its times, Silence… exposes the dark side of middle class morality, where judgements are passed by the minute and silence is often the only recourse left to the defendant.
About the group
"Version One Dot Oh!" (VODO – www.vodo.blogpsot.com) is a young theatre group based in Bangalore consisting of members from various backgrounds who share a common passion for theatre. Members include IT professionals, lawyers, journalists, students, TV actors etc.
VODO has staged more than 30 shows of 7 different plays over the last 3 years including Sriranga’s Shadows in the Dark and Listen Janamejaya, Dario Fo’s Can’t Pay! Won’t Pay!, Mary Chase’s Harvey, Christopher Durang’s Actor’s Nightmare and Monty Python Sketches; Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty, A collection of short stories by Shashi Deshpande – Chimeras; all of which have been well received and appreciated by audiences in Bangalore, Mumbai and Dharwad.
Silence! The Court is in Session marks the 8th stage production of VODO
About the playwright
Vijay Tendulkar was born in Mumbai on January 6, 1928. Mostly classified as social satires, his plays are known for their honest, often feminist, stand on issues that were conveniently swept under the carpet. His better known works include Shantata! Court Chalu Ahe (Silence! The Court is in Session), Ghashiram Kotwal, Mitrachi Goshta (A Friend’s Story) and Sakharam Binder.
Silence!…, written in Marathi(Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe) in 1967, fetched Tendulkar a Sahitya Academy Award.
About the director
Kishore Acharya has been involved with Bangalore theatre for the last 9 years and has been associated in varying capacities with most of the groups here. He has worked with the likes of Prakash Belawadi, Ravi Kumar and Arundhati Raja amongst others on stage. Over the last couple of years, Kishore has played the lead in popular serials such as Humbala (Zee TV), Mugilu (E TV) and Muttinatorana (E TV). Having always been a film buff, movies could not have been far behind. Kishore has just completed shooting for S Ramchandra’s Haro Hakki Yanneri and has also directed several documentaries and corporate films. Silence!… is Kishore’s first venture, as a director, on stage.
The cast
- Samant – Sanjeev Nair
- Leela Benare – Surabhi Herur
- Balu Rokde – Amjad Prawej
- G N Ponkshe – Shashank Purushottam
- Sukhatme – Harish Seshadri
- Karnik – Vikram Balakrishna
- Mrs Kashikar – Amrita Bhashyam
- Mr Kashikar – Sandeep Ravindra
For details call Kishore Acharya at 98451 23941 or Vikram Rai at 98455 01929 ⊕