The Suit, directed by Neelam Mansingh and performed by The Company in the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival was a great example of how adaptations of a story can completely change its meaning because of the socio-economic context into which they are taken. The original is a short story by South African writer Can Themba which is loaded with political and social issues of the nation.

The beautiful part of the version that was performed at Ranga Shankara was the seamless way in which the basic plot remains the same, its impact and meaning are completely different.

The Suit starts when a husband who finds his wife in bed with her lover. The lover flees, leaving his suit behind.

The husband then comes up with an unusual and cruel punishment- he wants his wife to start treating the suit as a guest, even in public. Bunty and Minna, are the perfect and happy young couple whose lives are torn apart because of the Minna’s adultery.

The original story is a mere three and a half pages with hardly any characterisation but this version managed to focus a lot on the characters.

It was a delight to watch the playful and cheerful young Bunty turn into this malicious and cruel man who relentlessly inflicts the strange mental torture on his wife. Minna goes through phases as well, moving from a lonely and confused housewife who goes astray, to a subservient and fearful woman who gets trapped in her husband’s strange play-acting. The characters move through various stages and finally degenerate and meet a twisted end.

Credit to the director for the way in which the actors move seamlessly with stylised movements to live music. There is also a great use of space and props.

Ramanjit Kaur and Vajinder Bharadwaj who play the leads moved effortlessly and enabled the audience to go through differeent levels of energy and emotion thorughout the play. The play is essentially not about the act of adultery itself but about how an incident changes the character of seemingly- light hearted people.

The play manages to strike a balance in such a way that it makes it difficult for the audience to sympathise with any one of the characters, therby allowing them to delve on the play even after its over.

One only wishes the ending had been more ambiguous, because while the play does not close the incident, it does seem to show that the roles are reversed and now Minna is the one pulling the strings. While throughout the play, the audience is allowed to interpret the story, it seemed odd that the ending didn’t allow for that.

However, it does not pass any judgment and conclusion and so the audieence is free to create a conclusion of their own.

On final note, says director Neelam Mansingh, “The suit turns into a symbol of power that the husband uses to control his wife, but when there is no resistance from her, that is when the play ends. But what happens after is something that the audience are free to imagine.”